The rise of telehealth can, in part, be attributed to more long-standing pain points that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. When Amwell announced its IPO in September, the company called attention to a need for more connectivity between health care providers, insurance companies and patients — and more access to the innovators that can improve global access to affordable care. By investing in these areas now, companies can improve care during the current crisis and enter a sector of the market poised to deliver continued benefit in its aftermath.

Technology for overburdened health facilities
Beyond the scope of telehealth, alternate health services also provide an opportunity to innovate the way patients receive care. During the early months of the pandemic, NSSP found that emergency department visits in the U.S. declined by 42% as patients weighed the risks of entering high-traffic facilities. Though the CDC continues to encourage virtual appointments whenever possible, certain conditions or concerns require in-person care.

Amazon Care seized the opportunity to offer an alternative to the traditional ER visit with the launch of its health care pilot with Crossover Health, seeking to establish convenient health centers near its existing operations facilities. Care alternatives like these address the hesitation that patients feel about hospitals and emergency room visits, and offer an alternative that can be quickly rolled out by private companies.

Some conditions require long-term progressive care plans, but it’s often safer for patients to quarantine at home than to travel between care facilities. Social distancing practices can create a risk post-discharge, when a patient is out of a doctor’s immediate reach.

New technology can enable doctors to track a patient’s condition outside of the hospital setting to reduce risk of virus transmission. Take, for example, a company like Vitls, which produces a device paired with cloud-based data analysis for remote monitoring of a patient's vital signs. With this type of technology, COVID-19 patients can be sent home for remote monitoring of key health data points like oxygen saturation, informing doctors in their decisions about the need for hospitalization or additional treatments.

Investing in wearable devices furthers the development of sustainable improvements to existing health programs that have become strained during the pandemic, and will remain critical in preserving access to care for underserved communities and rural areas beyond the crisis. Duke Health recently fast-tracked the launch of its cardiac rehabilitation program which utilizes wearable, remote devices in response to COVID-19. This kind of technology eliminates the barriers of inconvenience, cost, house-bound care and travel restrictions.

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