By Diane Yoo

Seven months into the coronavirus pandemic, the United States alone has seen over 7.4 million cases of COVID-19 and upwards of 210,000 deaths. Millions of people are currently on lockdown, practicing social distancing, or otherwise restricted in their typical movements — and these restrictions have completely disrupted the basic functions of modern medical care.

Most people today are unable or unwilling to attend routine in-person appointments or visit loved ones staying in care facilities, circumstances that have sown immense fear for high-risk individuals. With a viable vaccine still out of reach, now is the time to invest in health technology that can address the urgent needs of medical professionals and patients whose lives and safety depend on the system’s ability to adapt to the unpredictability of a COVID-19 world.

To alleviate the pressures felt by patients and care providers, some healthcare innovators are taking matters into their own hands. Leveraging their experiences as patients, former medical professionals and technology leaders, they’re developing immediate solutions to close gaps.

Investing in health technology today will reduce the burden on healthcare professionals in the future and improve outcomes for patients post-pandemic by unlocking better, faster and more accurate tools. By broadening what is possible to achieve in modern patient care, these developments are poised to drive long-term profit in the health technology sector.

The rise of remote care and its lasting benefits
Healthcare companies have democratized advancements in recent years that now prove critical to establishing sustainable systems of care. Improvements to health information technology have elevated collaboration and ease of access to data for medical professionals, and new patient engagement tools have entered the market to improve health outcomes.

Telehealth in particular has played a central role in the digitization of healthcare during COVID-19. Forrester reports that virtual care visits will reach above 1 billion this year — including 900 million visits specifically related to COVID-19; the caveat, experts predict, is the likelihood of a supply crisis. Only 24 percent of U.S. healthcare organizations had established a virtual care program in the first quarter of this year. This is where investment into health tech becomes critical — and it’s why the telehealth industry is booming.

Take, for example, Teladoc Health. Among the best known companies in the space, the virtual health care conglomerate was initially founded in 2002, and company shares spiked in value by over 50 percent in the early months of the pandemic. In August, the company merged with Livongo Health Inc. in a deal valued at $18.5 billion to create a more comprehensive virtual care network. Companies like these allow patients to receive certain types of care without having to enter high-risk areas like hospitals or doctor’s offices, also reducing exposure risk for medical professionals.

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.

Access to care will remain a barrier for rural towns, underserved communities and vulnerable patients after the pandemic subsides, and the healthcare industry will feel the ripple effects of over-burdened facilities, staff and resources for months and even years to come. The advancements we achieve today will serve to be a valuable long-term investment in improving access to care and quality health services overall. With the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, and the widespread embrace of new technology in the industry, investors should prepare to take advantage of the opportunity to further that innovation — or miss the boat on a profitable venture.


About the author: Diane Yoo founded Medingenii Capital in July 2019, with the mission to advance healthcare by cultivating companies with innovative products and technology. She is a results-driven entrepreneur, venture capitalist and angel investor with more than 15 years of experience in company acquisitions, expansions and turnarounds who is fiercely dedicated to delivering exceptional results. Her mission is to effectively utilize her network, community leadership and professional expertise to help elevate women and diverse entrepreneurs.