COVID-19 Telehealth Developments

COVID-19 Related Telehealth Company Offerings, Business Status and Other Developments

Social distancing and the crisis surrounding the COVID-19 epidemic has lead to an increase in the use of telehealth devices.  Kalorama has reported on telehealth markets for a decade.  Our analysts have reviewed companies in the field and contacted companies for their business status and has observed the following recent trends.  More detailed information can be found in our report, Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth Market

  • Increasing demand and business opportunities as a result of COVID-19.
  • Pending POs for telehealth equipment and services are being completed as a response to COVID.
  • Companies are facing growing difficulties in accessing supplies to provide monitoring equipment.
  • Companies are experiencing longer lead times for manufacturing monitoring equipment.
  • Companies have had to expand capacity for surges in use; one company reported a move to a hosting platform that could handle the increased volume – a move that has not come without several hurdles to implement.
  • Most companies report increased and enhanced security software upgrades.
  • Still uncertainty if widespread telehealth reimbursement and other implemented programs will sustain post-COVID.

Telehealth, or as Kalorama defines it, remote patient monitoring, is a $42-billion dollar market, per our most recent market study.

Companies to Watch Based on Activity and Engagement:

  • Abbott
  • AMD Global Telemedicine
  • American Well (Amwell)
  • Athena GTX
  • BioTelemetry
  • General Devices
  • Medtronic
  • OSI Systems
  • Philips Medical
  • Teladoc Health

 

Abbott: FreeStyle Libre Approval, Sales Up

April 8, 2020 —  announced FreeStyle Libre 14-day system approved for use in hospital setting during COVID-19 pandemic.  According to Abbott, this will permit frontline healthcare workers to remotely monitor patients with diabetes receiving inpatient care by assessing real-time glucose levels4 and glucose history. To help hospitals and medical centers in COVID-19 outbreak hotspots ramp up access to the technology, Abbott will donate 25,000 FreeStyle Libre 14 day sensors in partnership with the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Insulin for Life USA and Diabetes Disaster Response Coalition.  The company reported on

April 16, 2020, 1Q diabetes care sales were up, led by FreeStyle Libre, with worldwide sales of more than $600 million in the quarter, an increase of 59.3% on a reported basis over the prior year.

AMD Global Telemedicine: AGNES Connect Sales Up

Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA

Since 1993, AMD has provided telemedicine devices, services, and solutions for a wide range of medical specialties. It offers its own solutions, but also works with other providers and communications companies. Company systems include full encounter management solutions, integration, devices, workstations, and image sharing solutions.

In September 2014, AMD Global Telemedicine announced the availability of live steaming ultrasound technology for telemedicine applications.  This technology allows health professionals to view real-time ultrasound video within AMD’s AGNES Interactive system, a collaborative development between AMD and Interson Corporation.

In May 2016, AMD introduced PAT, the Patient Assessment Terminal.  This device is a fully integrated telemedicine wall unit that integrates with AMD and other brand peripherals and reduces the overall footprint of an exam room.  The system is used by professional staff with remote patient encounters.  Common areas of implementation include rural clinics, pharmacies or clinic kiosks.

AMD reported increasing sales as a result of COVID-19, particularly for AGNES Connect platform which integrates digital stethoscope, vitals and many other devices for clinical assessments.

American Well (Amwell): COVID-19 Specific Product Changes

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

March 3, 2020 —  announces launch of its National COVID-19 Telehealth Response Program, which in addition to telehealth services currently in place, the company has established an always-on-call infection control officer, COVID-19 specific workflows to guide clinical operations and quality and has established a COVID-19 Readiness Team.

Athena GTX: Inquiries Up

Johnston, Iowa, USA

Athena GTX was founded in Southern California in 2002 with a focus based in creating small patient monitoring devices for the U.S. Navy and Special Forces. After moving to the Midwest in 2007, the company has continued to grow, both in personnel and product development, and currently includes three FDA cleared device systems. Its diverse markets span from the military battlefield to rural communities and have such applications as law enforcement, emergency departments, telemedicine, and EMS/fire departments in addition to their military base.

Wireless Vital Signs Monitor (WVSM) was designed to be small and lightweight enough to be carried into remote and dangerous areas while still being able to give multi-patient readings that are reliable and wireless. It attaches to a patient quickly and stays with the patient from point of injury to treatment center where patient data and history is automatically downloaded. A unique feature of the WVSM is its multiple patient monitoring capability. Up to 20 patients can be wirelessly connected to one care provider and monitored simultaneously on one computer or iOS device. This allows for quick and easy data acquisition and aids in triage decisions during mass casualty incidents. Multiple patients can also be monitored in treatment and care facilities in order to assess patient condition over time and for those patients with chronic disease.

Sister products, the Hypoxia Alert and Mitigation System (HAMS) for the military and the HSPRO for civilians are currently in research and development trials in their respective industries. These monitoring devices were originally designed and developed to detect and anticipate hypoxia at high altitudes, the devices include a full complement of miniaturized physiological sensors and smart algorithms to provide near real time physiological status indication to multiple users simultaneously while wirelessly connected to smartphones or tablets via Wi-Fi. The goal of the technology is to not only monitor users, and account for individual differences and tolerances, but to allow personnel to take corrective actions before mission compromise.

In February 2018, Athena launched its new FDA-cleared software platform, Athena Device Management Suite (ADMS).  The system is compatible with all most Windows, Apple and Android operating systems.  The ADMS allows advanced capabilities including

  • the ability to share near-real-time patient data from remote locations
  • new patient data management tools
  • increased cybersecurity and encryption
  • improved multi-system compatibility with Android, Windows PC, and iOS platforms

April 20, 2020 —  fielding multiple customer inquires daily and continuing to provide high-value medical monitoring equipment and services globally in response to COVID-19 outbreak.

BioTelemetry, Inc.: Monitoring QT Prolongation for Patients Taking Hydroxychloroquine

Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA

BioTelemetry provides cardiac monitoring services, cardiac monitoring device manufacturing and centralized cardiac core laboratory services. Services offered by BioTelemetry include the Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) service to Holter monitor, pacemaker and INR monitoring.

March 25, 2020 — expanded MCOT service to monitor life-threatening QT prolongation in COVID-19 patients.  According to the company, certain medications being used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, including hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, can cause an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system known as QT prolongation; this serious condition can unfortunately lead to sudden cardiac arrest or death. As part of its FDA 510(k) clearance, MCOT has a specific indication for use with patients requiring measurement, analysis and reporting of QT interval. MCOT can be used to help physicians monitor and adjust the dosing of COVID-19 medications, as well as detect any other arrhythmias that may occur during treatment. As such, patients can benefit from continuous monitoring using MCOT as a connected solution. This new program is an “end-to-end” solution including an over-read service performed by a cardiologist if so desired.

Bright.md: COVID-19 Screening Modules

Portland, Oregon, USA

Bright.md, founded in 2014, is a healthcare automation company, modernizing direct-to-patient telehealth for healthcare systems with its AI-powered, asynchronous virtual-care platform, SmartExam.

SmartExam is an asynchronous, non-video online telehealth solution that allows patients to access from anywhere and allows providers to quickly and efficiently deliver high-quality evidence-based care for more than 450 low-acuity conditions.  In the case of more complex issues, the data gathered by SmartExam can be passed on to physicians for use in video or in-person visits, providing consistency throughout the system and saving valuable time for both patients and physicians.

March 20, 2020 — announced SmartExam has helped health systems evaluate and treat thousands of patients virtually. Bright.md’s partner health systems, as of March 20, have screened more than 27,000 patients with possible COVID-19 infection; escalated more than 425 patients who have met CDC criteria for further care or testing’ saved providers more than 8,000 care delivery hours.

March 9, 2020 –offers free coronavirus screening tool, SmartExam, to hospitals.

January 30, 2020 — updated the Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) SmartExam modules to include coronavirus screening.

Doctor on Demand

San Francisco, California, USA

Doctor on Demand is an app and a telehealth solution that connects caregivers to patients via videoconferencing. A patient who signs up for the program pays $40 to “see” a doctor using mobile devices. The patient pays only when they are connected with a physician. Physicians that meet the criteria are linked with the system and are available for consultations for more simple health concerns like sports injuries or common infections.

March 19, 2020 — rapid demand in telehealth visits, growing memberships – as a result the company continues to increase the number of providers and expand infrastructure to accommodate more volume on the platform.

eDevice

Mérignac, France

Founded in 1999, eDevice is among the leading providers of connected care solutions and currently connects over one million patient devices to caregivers around the world. At the crossroads of the telecom and medical fields, eDevice pioneered the telehealth connectivity space.

HealthGo is a rapid deployment, customizable technology platform, allowing OEM providers a full range of possibilities. It communicates with standard, off-the-shelf wireless (Bluetooth) and wired (USB/Serial) peripherals, including Blood Pressure Monitors, Oximeters, Glucose Meters, Weight Scales and more. Upon receiving data, HealthGo initiates a secure transmission via its integrated cellular, analog and Ethernet modules. HealthGo enables patients to interact through 3 physical buttons on a keypad as well as a 4.3″ touch screen display. With its integrated speaker and microphone HealthGo can tell instructions to the patient as well as record audio messages to be sent to physicians as an email attachment.

The HealthGo platform was recently announced by the company as supporting multiple modalities for COVID including remote oxygen saturation and temperature readings.

Eko Devices: Demand Up

Berkeley, California, USA

Eko Devices, developed by Connor Landgraf, Jason Bellet and Tyler Crouch, are quoted as saying, “We’ve started by pairing the oldest and the newest tools in the medical toolkit — the stethoscope and the smartphone.”

Eko Devices currently offers two products; the Eko Duo and the Eko Core. The Duo combines EKG and digital stethoscope technology into a portable, handheld device for unprecedented insight into cardiac function. Review rhythms and heart sounds quickly from the accompanying mobile application for advanced bedside analysis or groundbreaking remote care. Simultaneous EKG tracings and heart sounds provide a powerful bedside method to analyze cardiac or pulmonary function. The Duo makes it possible to capture EKG intervals and systolic time intervals for effective heart failure and AFib detection.

March 2020 —  increasing demand for the company’s Eko products during the COVID-19 crisis in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

General Devices: Up Over 500 users During COVID-19 Crisis

Ridgefield, New Jersey, USA

Since 1979, General Device has continued to be the leader in emergency medical solutions to hospital communications and mobile telemedicine systems, connecting care providers nationwide and handling thousands of calls daily. General Devices’ products combine speed, simplicity and reliability to improve preparedness and provide better patient care through sharing and documenting critical information throughout the medical and public safety teams.

The e-Bridge Mobile Telemedicine apps enable the sharing of real-time, HIPAA-secure voice, texts, photos, videos and streaming video from smartphones, tablets and PCs between emergency personnel in the field to hospitals and public safety entities.

CAREpoint enhances communication between EMS, hospitals and physicians by  integrating communications, information, documentation, 12-Leads, telemedicine, phone and radio calls, faxes, emails, 12-Lead ECGs, and all other EMS to hospital communications and information on one easy-to-use, HIPAA-secure, system. All CAREpoint data is automatically recorded, logged, time-stamped and immediately available for instant playback to answer urgent questions.

General Devices has recently added software upgraded with necessary secure features to perform remote monitoring for patients at home or in alternate facilities.  Additionally, the company enhanced its current offerings with secure multi-party conference video features to add patients and physicians with text invites.  Upcoming activities include a soon-to-release enhancement to the interpreters platform and other developments underway to combat COVID events.

April 20, 2020 — reported increasing orders from clients and currently about ~500 clients starting to use the GD CAREpoint workstation during COVID response.

April 16, 2020 — partners with MD1 Program, a non-profit organization that supports EMTs and paramedics, to bring e-Bridge telehealth solution while responding to COVID-19 emergencies.

April 8, 2020 — e-Bridge app used to help first responders in Massachusetts (Baystate Health) for coronavirus screening.

April 2, 2020 —  GD launches new direct-to-patient telehealth, e-Bridge Visit, with NYC rollout.

GlobalMed: Free Consultations For Healthcare Organizations

Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

GlobalMed was founded in 2002 with a mission to transform the healthcare delivery system by improving access and quality while reducing costs.  GlobalMed’s solutions include telemedicine stations, examination cameras, connected medical devices and software.  The company offers solutions globally, with active participation in more than 55 countries around the world.

April 13, 2020 — announced free consultations to healthcare organizations under pressure to implement telehealth to handle COVID-19 surge.

Glooko: Offering Diabetes Telehealth Tool

Mountain View, California, USA

Glooko develops software that uses data generated by third-party glucose monitoring devices to provide insights to patients and healthcare professionals for better management of diabetes.  The company’s app is used by more than 2.8 million diabetes patients and in over 9,000 clinics throughout 25 countries.

March 19, 2020– providing no-charge remote-care solution that provides live patient-to-clinician connectivity to assist in managing the health of diabetes patients.

Masimo: Partnership with Samsung

Irvine, California, USA

Masimo was founded in 1989 by Joe Kiani to solve the problems of low perfusion and motion in monitoring and especially pulse oximetry monitoring.  Today, Masimo is a global patient monitoring technology company with a portfolio of solutions, devices and sensors. Key products include: Masimo SET technology, rainbow SET, Masimo SpHb, Patient SafetyNet, SedLine, Masimo Open Connect, Root platform, and EMMA Capnograph.

The company invented Masimo Signal Extraction Technology (SET), an advanced pulse oximetry technology made it accessible to hospitals in 1998; a device now used most of the top hospitals in the U.S.

The newest marketing clearance came from the U.S. FDA on October 25, 2018 for the Masimo RD Sensors with improved accuracy specifications for SET Pulse Oximetry systems.

April 16, 2020 —  partnership with Samsung Electronics America to make the Masimo SafetyNet Patient App available on select Samsung smartphones, pre-installed and pre-configured.  The partnership is designed to help manage the surge in COVID-19 patients while maintaining distance from other patients and providers – allowing remote monitoring features.

April 10, 2020 — announced full market release of Masimo SafetyNet to aid in COVID-19 response efforts.

April 7, 2020 — St. Lukes University Health Network adopts use of Masimo SafetyNet technology for monitoring of in-hospital patients during COVID-19.

March 23, 2020 ¾ announced that, in response to current worldwide blood shortages driven by the coronavirus pandemic, it is making rainbow licenses available for no additional charge to hospitals where rainbow-ready devices are already in use.

March 20, 2020 — jointly with University Hospitals (Northeast Ohio), announce the use of Masimo SafetyNet as a new remote patient management solution designed to aid COVID-19 response efforts.

MediOrbis: Coronavirus Program Launched

Solon, Ohio, USA

MediOrbis offers and end-to-end telemedicine platform which includes innovative chronic disease management (CDM) programs and provides patients access to expert telemedicine care anytime, anywhere.

March 11, 2020 — launched comprehensive telemedicine program geared toward the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including both information and on-call telemedicine for patients who want to speak with a physician.

Medtronic: Helping to Stem Patient Tide

Dublin, Ireland

Medtronic offers medical technologies to more than 140 countries. Founded in 1949, the company both develops products internally and looks for strategic acquisitions to expand product offerings.  On January 26, 2015, Medtronic and Covidien completed a merger, a deal worth approximately $50 billion.  Covidien’s portfolio before the merger included Vital Sync virtual monitoring systems, Pulse oximeters, Invos Cerebral/Somatic Oximeter, Microstream capnography systems, Bispectral Index brain monitoring, and the Nellcor SpO2 patient monitoring system.

Medtronic’s broad range of medical equipment and services includes several applications for battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 27, 2020 — Medtronic Care Management Services (MCMS) has offered a suite of remote monitoring solutions for hospitals, health plans, and home health agencies, for years to primarily help patients manage complex, chronic, co-morbid conditions like heart failure or diabetes.  Now, MCMS has developed a suite of COVID-19 monitoring solutions that could help overburdened health systems by stemming the tide of patients.

One of the new solutions developed for current MCMS customers, the Respiratory Infectious Disease Health Check, was recently launched at one of the largest integrated healthcare systems in the United States to help monitor patients with complex, chronic, co-morbid conditions for respiratory infectious disease symptoms.

Under the COVID-19 Virtual Care Evaluation and Monitoring solution, patients concerned about COVID-19 use a virtual assistant to complete an online symptom survey based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Patients may continue to monitor their symptoms and body temperature from home via the virtual assistant as often as they need. If their symptoms warrant review, the patient will then be connected to a command center staffed by a team of registered nurses. The nurses review the patient’s data and provide self-care actions in accordance with CDC guidelines. If additional assessment is needed, based on CDC guidelines, a nurse will recommend the patient contact their healthcare provider directly.

OSI Systems: $6M Order for Xprezzon Solution

Hawthorne, California, USA

OSI Systems, incorporated in 1987, designs, develops, and manufactures products in a variety of industries.  Healthcare products are marketed under the Spacelabs and Primedic trade names.

In 2011, a monitoring product called the Xprezzon patient monitor was launched. It is a high-resolution, wireless-enabled monitor that allows mobile clinicians to access data with a mobile device. In 2012, Spacelabs launched the new compact Qube monitor a compact, lighter version of the Xprezzon system with the same clinical capabilities.

April 16, 2020 — received an order valued at approximately $6 million to provide Xprezzon patient monitoring solutions and related accessories for a U.S. state government to help manage its emergency response to COVID-19.

Philips: Dedicated COVID-19 Solution

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Philips has been involved in the health industry since 1891 with the introduction of the first x-ray tubes for medical applications.  Today, Philips is a leader in several health segments and offers products and services to more than 100 countries and has established subsidiaries in over 80 countries.

Philips’ telemonitoring technologies allow for remote patient management via transmission of vital signs and surveys.  The company’s technologies are designed to be used in both acute hospital environments through home care markets.

The company’s telehealth portfolio combines sophisticated technology with tailored solutions for any telehealth application.  The company offers two telehealth divisions: home and hospital. Examples of Philips’ patient monitoring technologies are as follows:

  • IntelliVue: Philips offers a portfolio of systems for monitoring cardiac patients. IntelliVue MX40 is an ambulatory patient monitor that records data, provides alerts to clinicians in the event of changes in patient conditions, and monitors patients regardless of their location. Other IntelliVue monitors include these examples, IntelliVue MP90, IntelliVue MP5SC, IntelliVue MX400, MX450, MX550, MX550, MX700, and MX800, and IntelliVue G7 anesthesia monitor.
  • IntelliVue Smart-Hopping Network: A shared wireless infrastructure for IntelliVue bedside and patient worn monitors, providing two-way communication between IntelliVue devices and the IntelliVue Information Center.
  • SureSigns: A wide range of portable bedside monitors, vital signs monitors and compact patient monitors.

The home telehealth solution is focused on ambulatory care at the patient’s location.  Enterprise solutions in this segment include:

  • eIAC – Intensive Ambulatory Care
  • eCAC – Chronic Ambulatory Care
  • eTrAC – Transition to Ambulatory Care

The company’s hospital, critical and acute, care Enterprise solution includes the following:

  • eICU – Intensive Care Units
  • eAcute – Medical/Surgical Units
  • eConsultant – On-call Expertise
  • eCareManager – Enterprise telehealth software

April 15, 2020 — partnership with the University of Kentucky’s UK HealthCare to power state’s only operating clinical command center for tele-critical care.  Since COVID-19 is predominantly a respiratory illness, patients with more severe cases may require ICU care. eCareManager acuity based scoring tools monitor a patient’s condition to detect subtle deteriorations prior to becoming adverse events. Predictive AI-enabled algorithms such as Sentry Score, designed to focus on a patients cardiovascular and Respiratory systems, provide clinicians in the telehealth center with predictive insights into those patients with the highest probability of requiring an intervention in the next 60 minutes.

April 2, 2020 — FDA grants a waiver for the use of readily available consumer monitors at home with the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution.  Pathologists, who may not be able to work on-site due to the current COVID-19 emergency, can start working from home* to review pathological cases and so prevent any delay in critical patient care. The FDA temporarily exempts restrictions for the remote use of the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution from March 28, 2020, onwards under specific conditions and device specifications. Pathologists are allowed to access whole slide images of patient tissue remotely through a secure VPN high-speed internet connection. And using a viewing web-based browser and monitor meeting specified minimum requirements, they can make a definitive diagnosis of histology cases from their home office.

April 1, 2020 — announced dedicated and scalable telehealth solution focused on COVID-19 outbreak that uses online screening, follow-up questionnaires and monitoring technologies to prevent unnecessary visits to general practitioners and hospitals.  The Groene Hart Hospital in Gouda, the Netherlands, is one of the healthcare institutions using the COVID-19 screening and monitoring solution and has contributed to its evolving development.

swyMed: Ultra Lightweight Workflow

Washington, DC, USA

While many solutions fail beyond the hard-wired four walls of a hospital, swyMed’s patented technology expands telemedicine care to places where it was previously unavailable, powering truly mobile exceptional-quality live video encounters, even at the lowest bandwidths. swyMed, a subsidy of swyMe a telecommunications company, provides a platform that allows staff to securely reach outlying areas in a click, enhancing productivity, reducing cost and allows specialists to focus on practicing medicine and not traveling from clinic to clinic.

Traditionally in the telemedicine industry, the bandwidth and signal quality needed by most systems to reliably conduct mobile, real-time video encounters, is a challenge. swyMed’s patented software overcomes these connectivity issues and enables dependable connections in low-bandwidth conditions.  In rural communities, swyMed has been a major contributor to telemedicine solutions.  In March 2019, swyMed announced a strategic partnership with Life Image to expand access to integrated telestroke solutions for rural and community hospitals to gain access to stroke specialists.

swyMed offers a telemedicine solution that enables remote providers to perform patient evaluations with the assistance of a patient-side caregiver using Glass Enterprise Edition as their “workstation.” The swyMed video telemedicine system, using Glass’ lightweight, wearable technology, allows patient-side caregivers to keep their hands free and thus remain fully engaged with the patient while simultaneously bringing the skills and experience of a remote physician to the situation.

swyMed has developed an ultra lightweight, easy to administer workflow for identifying candidates for COVID-19 video evaluations and transitioning to video calls immediately.

Teladoc Health: Up 50%

Purchase, New York, USA

Teladoc Health is a leading provider of comprehensive virtual healthcare services.  The company provides virtual access to high-quality care and expertise with a portfolio of services and solutions.  The company’s offerings include more than 450 medical subspecialties from non-urgent, episodic need like influenza and upper respiratory infections to chronic, complicated medical conditions like cancer and congestive heart failure.  In 2019, Telehealth reported approximately 4.1 telehealth visits were completed worldwide.

April 14, 2020 — preliminary 1Q financial report: “as a result of the global outbreak of COVID-19, Teladoc Health has experienced an unprecedented surge in demand for its services. The company is now routinely providing in excess of 20,000 virtual medical visits per day in the United States, representing an increase of over 100% as compared to the first week of March.”

Total visit volume is expected to exceed 1.8 million visits in the first quarter of 2020, representing growth of approximately 70% as compared to the first quarter of 2019.

March 15, 2020 — reported daily virtual medical visits up 50% in past week

Thinklabs

Centennial, Colorado, USA

Thinklabs stethoscope, named, “One,” was designed entirely by Clive Smith in Colorado, USA and is known as the most powerful stethoscope in the world. It took over three years of painstaking attention to every detail. One is built from the finest components – machined aluminum which is hand-polished and chrome-plated to reduce noise. The display lens is imported sapphire crystal, as you would find on a Rolex watch. The electronics is built on precision robotic production lines in China, which today leads the world in electronics production. This superior construction enables the stethoscope to amplify sounds over one hundred times. The audio-style headphones are made to Thinklabs specifications, tuned for extreme bass to reproduce heart sounds and with crystal-clear treble so they may be used for music pleasure, reflecting Smith’s passion for music.

In addition to the excellent craftsmanship, the Thinklabs One stethoscope is Bluetooth equipped and can transmit date including heart and lung sounds and breathing to an offsite transmitter in real time or as stored data downloaded later.

Thinklabs has announced the Thinklabs One stethoscope solves auscultation via PPE. Thinklabs One is the standard of care in infectious disease facilities because of its amplification and unique form factor, both of which make it easy to use via PPE with patients in isolation. The use of a conventional stethoscope with highly infectious patients is nearly impossible.  Thinklabs has been involved in biocontainment and infectious disease control for a number of years and at the forefront of auscultation during the Ebola crisis.  This experience, the company believes, makes it one of the best choices for preparing standard health delivery units for COVID-19 treatment.

TytoCare

New York, New York, USA

Tyto Care was founded by Dedi Gilad and Ofer Tzadik in 2012. After dealing with numerous ER visits for his daughter’s chronic ear infections, Gilad designed a better, more comprehensive and convenient way to diagnose illness. The company has received over $30 million in funding from investors including Cambia Health Solutions, Walgreens, OrbiMed, Fosun Pharma, LionBird, and PING An.

TytoHome is a kit of devices and associated telehealth technology for examining the ears, throat, heart, lungs, abdomen, skin, and capturing heart rate and temperature data. The Tyto Stethoscope is FDA cleared and all devices comply with FDA regulatory requirements. Using the home’s Wi-Fi to gain connectivity, the kit includes the following for personal use;

  • TytoApp for live video telehealth exams with your physician or “exam and forward” for later diagnosis
  • Otoscope (ears), stethoscope (heart, lung and abdomen), basal thermometer, digital camera (skin and throat), rechargeable battery

The TytoPro device suite is to be used in clinical settings or rural locations under the direction of a medical professional. The kit includes a high-resolution camera, no-touch infrared basal thermometer, digital stethoscope (with volume, bell and diaphragm filters), digital otoscope and tongue depressor adaptors.

Tyto Care is now helping to address the COVID-19 virus with its telehealth solution.  Key features include:

  • Hand-held modular medical kit for examining the heart, lungs, stomach, skin, throat, ears and body temperature
  • Unique guidance, navigation, and quality analysis technology
  • Full-stack telehealth solution
  • Full compliance and regulatory clearances, including FDA, CE, Health Canada, HIPAA, and GDPR
  • Deployed quickly and at scale, possible within a single day

The solution can be deployed quickly and at scale, with training and implementation possible within a single workday.

VSee Lab; Surge in Call Volume Reported

San Jose, California, USA

VSee is a  telehealth solutions company that offer telemedicine kits & carts,  web-based waiting rooms and patient portals, and remote monitoring dashboards for providing effective virtual care. The company began with two Stanford PhD students, Milton and Erika, who wanted to make remote work simple. The telemedicine calling came in 2012 when they were invited to take VSee to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon. Shortly after arriving, Milton saw a young woman die 15 minutes after showing her heartbeat on his portable ultrasound. She was the victim of an overgrown tumor, which would never have been allowed to grow so huge in the U.S.  Today, VSee serves over 1,000 companies including Walgreens, MDLIVE, Trinity, DaVita, HCA, Seton, McKesson-US Oncology and others with a focus on saving lives, money and improve healthcare.

VSee Telemedicine offers both monitoring telemedicine kits as well as the telehealth platform and programming to compliment the telemedicine kit for remote consultations. The kit includes:

  • A windows tablet
  • All-in-one scope (includes dermascope and otoscope)
  • Individual scopes from firefly
  • Digital stethoscope
  • Ultrasound (vascular or abdominal)
  • USB pulse oximeter and blood pressure
  • EKG (single lead or 12-lead)

While the kits are assembled and supported by VSee, it is important to distinguish that the manufacturers of the components are separate companies. Some of the partnered companies include QRS as the EKG provider and Thinklabs, which makes the digital stethoscopes.

On the telehealth side, VSee’s versatile platform allows for an infinite number of workflow variations: direct-to-consumer, internal communications, provider-to-provider consults, or any combination of these. Clinics are customizable with only the features needed: scheduling, walk-in waiting room, intake and consent forms, downloadable visit notes, ePay, ePrescribe, health device integrations and more.

April 6, 2020 — reported a huge surge in call volume due to COVID-19.  The company is in the process of moving services to a hosting company that can accommodate the additional volume.