Prior to Parks Associates’ sixth-annual Connected Health Summit: Independent Living and Wellness, John Jesser, President of LiveHealth Online and Employer Solutions at American Well, shared his thoughts on the connected health market with the firm's analyst team.
John will participate on the Choice in Care: Telehealth, Kiosks, and Retail Clinics panel on Wednesday, August 28, at 10:45 AM. Panelists who will join him on this session include:
- Tori Ames, Program Manager, Telehealth, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
- Jeff Bennett, CEO, higi
- Michael Farrell, SVP & GM Hospitals and Health Systems, MDLIVE
- Phil Marshall, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Conversa Health
- Moderator:Jennifer Kent, Senior Director, Parks Associates
Q: How quickly is the connected health device market growing? What is driving growth?
The connected health device market is growing fast, but not fast enough. Increasingly, as broadband access and simplified device availability grows, the divides between people, technology, their health, and healthcare providers lessen. This is a wonderful thing that will empower people and care teams to be more informed, impacting behavior and lifestyle choices and the overall health of an individual. Growth is being driven by a confluence of factors, including some individuals’ desire to be healthier and the overall need to reduce the cost of healthcare being shouldered by risk bearers such as health plan providers, self-funded employers, and the government.
Q: What features of wellness and fitness apps are in highest use? Which are in highest demand?
The features of wellness and fitness apps that are in highest use really span two very different individuals:
- The healthy well - people who opt-in to using and knowing their various health data points and activity
- Those with chronic conditions, where proper incentives have been put in place to engage them
It’s the latter we need to ensure are most fully supported, as well as the people in the middle of the two demographics—those who might be at risk and are uninvolved in their health management in a proactive way and could easily slip into a severe or chronic health state.
Q: What is driving early consumer use of telehealth/virtual visit services? What factors most impact the experience?
Consumers are using telehealth because of the convenience, ease of use, and access to medical care in an “on demand” manner. Once people try it through a platform that offers access to high-quality doctors who are fully engaged and make clinical diagnoses and associated treatments, people are usually hooked. Telehealth is moving well beyond urgent care to serve people in areas of behavioral health, wellness, and even into areas of chronic disease. Increasingly, telehealth will be relied on in a core way as an extension of the current delivery system to treat and check in on those with chronic conditions, helping to improve their outcomes.
Q: What needs do seniors have as they age that could be ad dressed by new IoT solutions? How open are they to assistive technologies, products, and services?
At American Well, we just completed a survey that shows that 52% of Americans ages 65+ are open to telehealth. The facts are that 45% of Americans ages 65+ have participated in video calls—such as FaceTime, Skype, or Google Hangouts—reinforces the fact that many seniors are comfortable with technology. What’s more, 25% of seniors are currently using a mobile phone health app, and of those, 27% are using their health plan’s mobile app. This population is prime to lead the industry on the adoption of technologies to advance their health. And now, with reimbursement support from the likes of Medicare Advantage and other places, health plans and providers will increasingly offer convenient and effective options.
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