UPDATED 10:03 EDT / MARCH 24 2020

EMERGING TECH

In-home healthcare network Heal launches telemedicine app for 102 million Americans

Heal Inc., a provider of in-home medical care and remote monitoring, today announced an expansion of its app to cover patients of all ages in California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Virginia, Washington, Maryland and Washington D. C., making telemedicine available to 102 million Americans.

Because of the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19, more Americans are in danger of exposing themselves and medical personnel to the disease. As a result, the need for telemedicine, the ability to diagnose and treat certain ailments using remote technology instead of person-to-person contact, may become an increasingly important part of access to medical care.

“Since it’s hard to give people definitive answers and this is a scary and panic provoking time, we felt that this was the best way for us to provide comfort for our patients,” Dr. Renee Dua, chief medical officer of Heal, told SiliconANGLE in an interview. “Telemedicine has been a big part of our offering for some time. Before this coronavirus outbreak, we would set up our medical telemetry to give patients continuing access through remote monitoring in their own home and high-quality medical care.”

According to Dua, the objective of this expansion of telemedicine offering is to provide a sense of comfort to customers in need of medical care while also reducing their need to visit urgent care or the emergency room if they don’t need it.

Given the virulence of COVID-19, being able to receive a checkup, care, and treatment in-home while avoiding potential exposure to illness.

“What we want to do is provide patients comfort by doing what we can in their own home,” she said. “We do this by answering questions that can alleviate concerns and keep them out of the ER and urgent care if they don’t need it. Of course, if what I’m seeing over video chat or hear during an audio consultation is concerning, then I might send them to a hospital.”

In Heal’s more traditional use case, patients would call for in-home doctor’s visits or get in-app consultations in for physicals or well-child checkups that could be done without the need for visiting a doctor’s office. Other services could include diabetic monitoring with remote telemetry equipment designed to send blood sugar updates allowing for superior continuing care.

“Right now, the most critical thing is to stay at home,” she said.

According to Dua, right now telemedicine has a zero-dollar copay for many insurance companies in the United States. And she said access to Heal’s app currently has a low out-of-pocket cost as well.

In addition to its expanded telemedicine services, Heal continues to operate its in-home care in cities across the United States. Patients who access Heal’s service are seen by board-certified doctors and receive personalized care.

The current states that Heal’s telemedicine service is available in are limited because of licensing in those states. Given the current pandemic and its effect on medical personnel, the government in more states might open licensing for more telemedicine apps and as that happens, Heal plans to expand its operations accordingly.

Image: Heal

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