Telehealth News Recap - Jan 2024
Keeping up with the latest news in the virtual care space is challenging. 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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Explore the latest trends, insights, and innovations in January's Virtual Care News roundup. This month's newsletter continues to explore what industry experts are predicting for 2024.
Plus:
- 🛞 Register for Wheel's first webinar of the year: 2024 Virtual Care Trends Revealed — Insights from 1 Million Patient Visits
- 📈 See how different popular healthcare innovations are faring for 2024 in Rock Health's latest insight report
- 🏥 Discover the hospitals of the future in a deep dive from Healthcare Brew
Read time: 7 minutes
🛞 Wheel News
Wheel Webinar: 2024 Virtual Care Trends Revealed - Insights from 1 Million Patient Visits
Join us for a live webinar on Tuesday, Feb. 13th, 2024, at 1 pm CST, where we'll delve into the future of virtual care with Michelle Davey, CEO of Wheel. Gain unparalleled insights as we explore the latest trends in virtual care, drawing on data from 1 million Wheel patient visits. Join us for a thought-provoking session that will reshape your understanding of the future of healthcare.
[Infographic] Patient Preferences, Consumer Trends & More for '24
Dig into our data-filled infographic showcasing patient trends from 2023 and data insights to be leveraged for 2024. Based on more than 1 million patient visits in 2023 and an independent consumer survey, you won't want to miss this thought-provoking resource.
Inside you'll find out:
- What states drive the most virtual care visits?
- What demographics are most likely to use virtual care?
- What types of services do people want?
- What factors may increase adoption?
- What are the most popular times / days of the week?
- And more...
Gearing Up For ViVE 2024
Heading to L.A. next month for ViVE 2024? We'll be there at booth #1361. Stop by and learn how you can power the future of care with Wheel.
📊Trends & Insights
Google Unveils Suite of Healthcare-Specific Generative AI Models
Last month, Google introduced a new suite of healthcare-focused generative AI models designed to speed up workflows for clinicians and medical researchers. The latest offering, called MedLM, is built on Med-PaLM 2, Google's medical AI system that harnesses the power of its large language models. In this article, HCA Healthcare, one of the earlier health system testers, discusses their promising experience with the new offering.
MedCity News >
Digital Health at the Turn of 2024: Tracking Developments Along the Innovation Maturity Curve
How are the trending areas in healthcare innovation faring and what should we follow closely in 2024? In their most recent insight report, Rock Health plotted seven major developments in digital health on an innovation maturity curve to help leaders find opportunities or catch up with competitors. The rankings are based on research publication volume, venture funding, and partnership activity.
Trending topics include AI in Healthcare, Caregiver Solutions, Data Interoperability, Digital Obesity Care, Food as Medicine, Retailers as Providers, and Value-Based Care Enablement. Dive into each analysis and learn what to keep an eye out for in 2024.
🤔 First Opinions & Engaging Conversations
Charting Walgreens Evolution as a Healthcare Company
Walgreens is a leading pharmacy and healthcare provider with a 120-year history of community care. With almost 9,000 retail outlets, it serves nearly 10 million customers daily. Steve Wogen, the Chief Growth Officer at Walgreens, discusses the company's journey to becoming a more valued partner in the healthcare ecosystem in his video interview with Fierce Healthcare. The interview tracks Walgreens' progress, from its collaborations with VillageMD, CareCentrix, and Summit Health to its plans for the future with payers that are breaking the mold. Walgreens aims to become the preferred independent partner in the healthcare industry.
Hospitals of the Future
For the past year, through interviews with dozens of healthcare executives across the country, reporters at Healthcare Brew have been investigating what our hospitals will look like in the future. This multi-part report delves into the future of hospitals, highlighting how the healthcare sector is adapting to new technological advancements, staffing challenges, and patients' increasing autonomy. The article tells the story of how hospitals are evolving to meet these challenges.
Healthcare Brew >
⚖️ Policy & Regulatory Updates
The Top Legal Cases To Watch in the Coming Year
What legal cases should we be looking out for in 2024? Legal experts said they’ll be paying close attention to lawsuits surrounding the Medicare drug price negotiation program and Braidwood v. Becerra, a case that threatens a key aspect of the Affordable Care Act. Both cases could have significant implications on the healthcare industry, potentially setting new precedents for government agencies to follow.
Recommendations to Regulators Configuring Rules on AI Use in Healthcare
As Federal agencies like the FDA and HHS configure rules around AI use in healthcare, MobiHealthNews spoke with a group of digital healthcare executives to understand the industry's recommendations, advice, and suggestions for regulators. The consensus? We need to build off of existing regulatory frameworks to create protections that balance the need for scrutiny around safety with guidelines that make innovation feasible.
✨ Growth & Innovation
2024 Outlook: Despite Hurdles, Stakeholders Bullish on VR in Behavioral Health
Despite its high potential for success in clinical settings, virtual reality (VR) as a technology still faces significant hurdles to adoption. Breakthroughs have been documented in perceived stress, acute and chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of PTSD with the use of VR. To summit these adoption hurdles, experts interviewed in this article suggested focusing on operationalizing VR — integrating it into provider workflows, reducing clinician burden, and improving the patient experience.Fierce Healthcare >
American Telemedicine Association Establishes New Clinician Council To Address Barriers to Broad Adoption of Telehealth and Virtual Care Delivery
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) announced a new Clinician Council focused on addressing barriers to the broad adoption of telehealth and virtual care delivery, including emerging platforms that support technology-enabled care. According to Ann Mond Johnson, CEO of the ATA, the council exists "to inform the public about the benefits of telehealth, and support a national dialogue around virtual care based on factual, rational and balanced information, to enable a productive and sensible discourse on the future of telehealth and omnichannel care delivery.”
ATA >
🔁 Industry Roundup
- GuideHealth has acquired the value-based care division and managed services organization of Arcadia's healthcare analytics company
- Devoted Health, a tech-enabled Medicare Advantage startup, closed 2023 with $175 million in series E funding
- At its 2023 Investor Day in December, CVS Health introduced a new pharmacy reimbursement model, announced a new brand for its Health Services segment, and more