Recent Telehealth Trends, Insights and News - May 2024

May was a busy month for the telehealth industry which means we have a full list of headlines for you to check out. It can be hard to stay on top of all the news, trends, technology and insights breaking through in the digital health space. The industry continues to grow faster each day. That’s why, while you focus on serving your patients, we do the work for you with a May telehealth recap. 

Curious about what you may have missed in May? Stay up to date on the top digital health companies of 2024, Walgreens’ recent GLP-1 deal with German drugmaker, UnitedHealth CEO’s cyberattack hearing and much more. 

Technology, Insights and News

Telehealth Delivers Early Palliative Care as Effectively as In-Person Care

According to this article by the American Journal of Managed Care and findings presented by Dr. Joseph Greer, palliative care can be delivered via telehealth with equivalent quality-of-life effects as in-person to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Read on to find out what these extensions will include.

Read the full AJMC article here >>

Newsweek's 24 Best Digital Health Companies in the US

In a recently released list by Newsweek in partnership with Statistica, the publication recognized 400 of the world's top digital health companies of 2024 from 35 different countries. They represent seven industry segments including diagnostics, health records, medical management and telehealth. Each firm’s score was based on an analysis of their financial performance and traffic data for its websites and apps.

Read the full list here >>

7 Keys to Success With Value-Based Care Pay Arrangements

As the healthcare landscape continues to turn towards value-based care, the AMA and other major stakeholders released a playbook of best practices to successfully develop and participate in VBC pay arrangements. This article gives a quick overview of some of the playbooks’ key sights and downloadable access to the full version.

Read the full AMA overview >>

Policy and Regulatory

House Committee Passes Extension of Federal Telehealth Flexibilities

On May 8, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means unanimously passed legislation that would extend current Medicare telehealth flexibilities through the end of 2026.

Read the full news article here >>

Lawmakers Grill UnitedHealth CEO on Change Cyberattack: ‘Your Company Let the Country Down’

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty appeared before Congress to answer for the healthcare giants’ recent data breach. Lawmakers are calling it a single attack that unmasked some deep vulnerabilities in the core of our healthcare system. During the hearing, lawmakers on both sides were exasperated by Witty with Sen Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) holding up a copy of  “Hacking for Dummies”.

Read the full STAT+ exclusive story here >>

Industry Conversations

A Look at Telehealth's Future and an Omnichannel Approach To Care

In this episode of Podnosis by Fierce Healthcare, they dive into telehealth and its role in a comprehensive approach to healthcare. Emma Beavins interviews CVS Health Chief Medical Officer Sree Chaguturu, M.D., covering retail telehealth, CVS Health’s telehealth strategy and Chaguturu’s position as the chair of the American Telemedicine Association's board of directors.

Listen to the full Podnosis episode here >>  

Telehealth: Down, But Far From Out

Industry headlines weren’t painting a healthy picture for telehealth with major players like Walmart and Optum stepping back from the industry early this spring. However, telehealth is not out of the game, far from it. Stanford Health Care, for example, has maintained a strong use of telehealth with 40% of patient visits in their ambulatory faculty practices being virtual. So, is this recent decline a product of flawed technology, or our collective failure to break away from traditional ways of working? Read on to find out. 

Read the full Becker’s Healthcare article here >>

Growth, Funding and Innovation

Posterity Health Raises $6 Million to Fund Expansion and Technology Acceleration

The incremental funding led by FCA Venture Partners and supported by Distributed Venture and WVV will be used to accelerate the development of the Posterity Health Male Management Platform (MMP). The Posterity Health MMP combines innovative technology, expert care teams and AI-driven clinical protocols to drive personalized end-to-end male care. Read on to learn more about Posterity Health’s recent funding.

Read the full press release here >>

Virtual Care Drives Rise in Addiction Treatment Startup Funding

Addiction-focused virtual care startups have pulled in hundreds of millions for business models scalable enough to meet the demand for treatment. And most of the funding is quite recent. To get a better picture of where these investments are going, Crunchbase pulled from their data to aggregate a list of 14 recently funded startups tied to addiction treatment. 

Read the full Crunchbase article here >>

Walgreens Inks GLP-1 Clinical Trial Deal With Major German Drugmaker

Under the deal with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, Walgreens agreed to find candidates who are overweight, obese or have diabetes and connect them with a Phase III clinical trial for Boehringer’s GLP-1 drug survodutide.

Read more about the deal here >>

OpenLoop News and Resources

What Is Actionable AI and Why Does It Matter?

Actionable AI is gaining attention in the business and healthcare AI world. Learn how this new AI model works and could potentially help your organization.

Read the full OpenLoop blog here >>

7 Tips To Increase Utilization For Your Employee Benefits

Are your employee benefits being underutilized? Here are 7 tips that may increase participation and reduce chronic health issues for your employees.

Read the full OpenLoop blog here >>