Roy Schoenberg, President and CEO of Amwell
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Much of the buzz surrounding telehealth since the onset of Covid-19 (especially around the onset of the pandemic) has been about the massive spike in consumer use of virtual care. As social distancing becomes a home concept and elective procedures and other non-urgent care are no longer available in person, many people are jumping online to see doctors and therapists.
On the one hand, the virtual behavioral health trend has remained strong. But as the virus has become part of everyday life and in-person visits have resumed, the use of telehealth has cooled.Given this, a recent report from Trilliant Health estimated that only The telemedicine market is small future.
But in a recent sit-in interview ViVE Conference in Miami Beach, Anwell Chief executive Roy Schoenberg said all the headlines focused on seeing a doctor online when consumers couldn’t get urgent care in person, missing the bigger story. He believes that even as healthcare becomes consumerized, vendor adoption and integration of telehealth will drive greater use of the technology.
“This is not a story of consumer adoption of telehealth,” he said. “That’s the story of provider adoption of telehealth.”
Schoenberg believes that puts his company in a better position than companies that offer telehealth services directly to consumers.
“I think that’s a significant difference between us and companies like Teladoc, who have always believed in creating products that patients or consumers use. tHose has really, really been affected by the rise and fall of Covid,” he said. “During Covid (starting), people were drawn to technology-based solutions, but when things happened, they said, ‘I don’t have to use it. I can go back to whatever I was doing. This is not our reality at all. “
Amwell went public during the pandemic in September 2020. Its shares closed as high as $42.80 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. But shares have fallen sharply since peaking on Jan. 27, 2021, closing at $3.27 a share on Friday.
Shares of Teladoc surged around the same time, closing at $294.54 on February 8, 2021. Shares have also plunged since then, closing at $54.61 on Friday.
Boston-based Amwell calls itself an “intel inside” company that provides telehealth services behind the scenes to the largest healthcare organizations.include Health systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Intermountain, as well as health plans, employers and other partners. (Although it works behind the scenes, Amwell Share publicly Who does it do business with. )
“TThe credibility of healthcare comes from the reputation of these organizations, not us,” he said. “We firmly believes that our future lies in allowing these organizations to rewrite the way they manage patients.“
At its most basic level, digital-first care envisions consumers initially connecting virtually with healthcare and then accessing in-person care as needed. But Schoenberg envisioned another scenario where patients see their doctor first. Then, when they’re told they need to make a follow-up appointment — for example, to discuss the medication they’re taking — they may be asked to do so virtually.
He pointed out that video interviews are just the tip of the iceberg. More and more people have access to not only primary care at home, but also specialist care. Technology is also used to monitor patients remotely. Combining in-person and virtual care with remote monitoring can escalate care levels in real-time based on an individual’s needs, Schoenberg said.
Of course, consumers need to be able to access care in a safe and convenient way. But Schoenberg remains convinced that it will be primarily health organizations, not patients actively accessing virtual care, that will bring about the shift.
“The evolution of the way we are cared for isn’t really going to come from consumer initiative,” he reiterated. “It will be specified by the supplier. “
Photo: sdecoret, Getty Images
