Telehealth News Recap - December 2022
It can be tough to keep up with the latest news in the virtual care space. Wheel's Virtual Care News is a monthly newsletter for stakeholders in the digital health industry. As a subscriber, you'll receive timely information on trending news, regulatory updates, engaging conversations, and key innovations emerging in the space.
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This month's highlights include AMA’s Future of Health Report with case studies and research exploring “digitally-enabled care,” the top takeaways from the HLTH 2022 conference, how digital health companies are building grassroots communities, and more.
Also in the news, as ATA’s Edge Conference convenes, we’re excited to hear their SVP of Public Policy say the issue of telehealth continues to have bipartisan support and the Public Health Emergency policies of the pandemic have a good chance of staying put after the extension.
Cheers to the end of the year and to growth in 2023.
Trends & Insights
📄 Report: AMA Future of Health Report
Dr. Pooja Aysola, Head of Clinical Operations at Wheel, was honored to join other healthcare leaders in providing feedback for AMA's 2023 Future of Health Report. AMA gathered feedback from more than 40 healthcare leaders in sectors ranging from health systems and digital health companies to venture funds and employer health plans. The goal was to better understand their perspectives on virtual care. The result was a blueprint for optimizing digitally-enabled care and resources for addressing what they call the “digital health disconnect.”
Read the full report from AMA >
Read AMA's key takeaways article >
💡 Innovators to Watch
Forbes released their annual 30 under 30 and asked Wheel CEO, Michelle Davey, to be a judge for the healthcare portion. Check out these emerging healthcare innovators.
Policy & Regulatory Updates
📽️ Video: Breaking Down Barriers to Interstate Telehealth Delivery
WTF Health interviews Kyle Zebley, SVP of Public Policy at the ATA (American Telemedicine Association) and Executive Director of ATA Action (ATA’s affiliate advocacy organization) about policies at the federal and state level in jeopardy of changing soon. The list is long – everything from interstate practice to originating site stipulations, in-person visit requirements (especially for behavioral health visits), and a number of favorable reimbursement policies that made telehealth a covered benefit at federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, and under high-deductible health plans. This interview is packed with helpful and, dare we say, encouraging news about the future of telehealth. |
First Opinions & Engaging Conversations
Digital Health Companies are Building with Communities
A growing number of direct-to-consumer digital health companies are building grassroots communities instead of acquiring customers with traditional advertising. Beyond Facebook groups and subreddits, companies are learning there is more to community building than the wild west of social media. In this business and technology article, Digital Health talks to CEOs and users about curating an authentic community experience while improving ROI. |
Why They Call it a Health Plan and Not Insurance
Employer-sponsored health plans, which affect more than 170 million people in the US, are unique in how they take and handle risk. Our friends at Health Tech Stack did a beautiful job with this three-part series on risk-taking in employer-sponsored health plans. HTS gets into the nitty gritty with everything from approaches to reducing risk to why many of the current systems for managing risk are failing.
Growth & Innovation
🎥 Video: Acquisition of GoodRx's Care Software Adds More Telehealth Tech Infrastructure |
WTF Health interviewed Michelle Davey at HLTH 2022 about how adding the patient experience infrastructure of the GoodRx Care platform to Wheel’s 50+ state clinician network will create the most robust, end-to-end infrastructure telehealth has ever seen. We love the passion Jessica DaMassa brings to this deep dive into the acquisition of GoodRx’s care engagement software. Watch Michelle talk about how the strategic move will help us live our mission of putting great care within everyone’s reach. |
Wheel News
HLTH 2022: 4 Takeaways From the Largest Digital Health Conference
It's been just over two weeks since HLTH 2022 wrapped up and we are still feeling energized by the conversations we had on the future of healthcare. This year drew nearly 10,000 attendees, over 800 sponsors, and 300 speakers from across the healthcare ecosystem. To keep the momentum going, we put together a list of our 4 key takeaways from the conference. |
🎥 Video: Healthtech is Still Booming Post-Pandemic |
In the midst of decreasing valuations and investment in the tech space, Kristin Baker Spohn, General Partner at CRV, still sees healthtech as an exciting opportunity. Sure, we’re excited she mentioned us as a game-changer, but we also love the discussion of investing trends, macroeconomic climates, and why grit is an essential quality for founders and companies. |
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At Wheel, we believe healthcare will move forward when we amplify the impact of virtual care for more patients. Find out how Wheel can help launch, scale, and sustain your telehealth business.
