Five Emerging Telehealth Innovators File IPO Prospectus Amid $3 Trillion Industry Transformation

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) defines “telehealth” as the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support remote clinical care, professional health education, public health, and health administration. Interestingly, telehealth is replaying the developmental trajectory of the banking industry.

When the concept of “online banking” first emerged, the public was bewildered and failed to grasp its meaning. Although there were early adopters, it had not yet truly penetrated the market. Later, a dramatic shift in the environment led people to recognize and accept this novel financial model—privately managing and operating bank funds from home. The rise of online banking quickly spurred the development of the entire self-service industry, and this trend subsequently swept through the healthcare sector, giving birth to telemedicine. Although telemedicine has not yet achieved universal adoption, its actual market value has already reached $3 trillion.

For example, Microsoft leveraged its proprietary Kinect motion sensor to gain a first-mover advantage in the telemedicine industry. Originating from the Xbox 360, Kinect creates interactive and immersive gaming experiences. This technology enables console control and interaction through gestures and voice commands.



As a result, this skeletal tracking system, originally designed to enhance interactivity and engagement in gaming, has also been applied to medical care for the musculoskeletal system. “The PC version of Kinect and its SDK (Software Development Kit) can transmit key features and performance data related to the human body and its surrounding environment. By integrating precise computer vision technology with powerful sensors, Kinect can observe the surrounding environment in 3D and simultaneously track the movements of up to six individuals.”

“The software development kit consists of drivers, runtime, programming interfaces, device interfaces, tools, sample code, and more, enabling innovative companies to develop robust and effective solutions for monitoring human movement and behavior,” said Bill Crounse, Senior Director and General Manager of Microsoft Global Health. “Kinect plays a broad role in addressing global healthcare challenges, including physical therapy and rehabilitation, as well as preoperative and postoperative assessment.”

In addition to Microsoft’s Kinect, Intel launched RealSense at the Game Developers Conference in March this year, along with several applications. For example, it can create a “3D Avatar” effect by scanning facial information. The sensor can also detect signs of fear on a player’s face; if it senses that the gamer is afraid, it will automatically increase the game’s difficulty. This is very cool!



Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, CEO of Care at Hand, a telemedicine company, highlighted the growth trend in the internet healthcare industry: “Both investment and internet healthcare applications are growing rapidly. In 2014, over $6.9 billion was invested in internet healthcare technologies. We expect to maintain or even exceed this level of investment in 2015, as investments already reached $2.8 billion in the second quarter alone. In my view, within the next five years, telemedicine will become as commonplace as vaccinations or X-rays.”

We have entered the era of self-managed health. The healthcare industry, with a market capitalization of $3 trillion, will integrate self-managed healthcare with telemedicine. Keep an eye on these five companies, each of which has achieved remarkable success in the field of telemedicine and will soon become household names.

RespondWell

This internet healthcare company is leading the development of the remote rehabilitation industry (a niche market within the telehealth sector). RespondWell enables internists, physical therapists, and healthcare providers to deliver a richer tele-rehabilitation experience to patients. Its remote services can be deployed in various settings, including physician offices, senior living facilities, outpatient rehabilitation centers, and private residences. RespondWell also integrates gamification techniques into physical therapy, aiming to usher in a new era of care delivery. The company’s intuitive remote rehabilitation platform targets physical therapy services, striving to reduce costs while improving treatment outcomes. RespondWell’s CEO, Ted Spooner, founded Corillian in 1995, one of the first online banking and personal wealth management systems in the United States.



Unaliwear

The company is manufacturing its first all-in-one voice-controlled wearable device, the “Kanega watch,” designed to help older adults maintain their health and vitality. The primary causes of diminished self-care ability and premature mortality among the elderly are falls and medication non-adherence. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among individuals aged 65 and older. In the United States, an older adult sustains a moderate or severe injury due to a fall every seven seconds.

Furthermore, most older adults suffer from at least one chronic condition and take five or more medications daily, with 63% admitting they sometimes forget to take their doses. “Non-adherence to medication regimens drives 38% of the private nursing home market and 10% of hospitalization demand,” said Jean Anne Booth, CEO of UnaliWear.com. The UnaliWear Kanega watch offers multiple features, including medication reminders, family guidance, timely fall detection, and dose alerts. It is also waterproof. The Kanega watch was scheduled for market release in 2016 and is currently available only through online pre-orders.


Conversahealth

Imagine being able to receive a physician’s examination instantly at home. With Conversahealth, you can stay connected with your doctor during both initial and follow-up consultations, allowing them to remotely monitor your health status without the inconvenience of requiring an in-person visit to their clinic.

Physicians can respond to patient inquiries and receive critical data, such as information from monitoring devices or patient-reported outcomes. Electronic examination dashboards enable physicians and care teams to track patients’ conditions. The Conversa Master Profile is a HIPAA-compliant digital tool that captures patient profiles and updates dynamically as new data become available. Physicians also receive alerts when a patient requires private consultation.



Empower-Interactive

The company has proposed an evidence-based health solution that connects doctors and patients through online channels, making doctor-patient interaction possible. Founded in 2009, the company strives to transform evidence-based psychotherapy into interactive online learning programs, teaching patients and users practical strategies for coping with their problems through treatment. “Psychotherapy is a $15 million market, yet it falls far short of meeting the needs of our community. It is estimated that 50% of individuals with depression receive no medical care at all. Blended therapy, combined with internet-enabled self-help tools such as Empower—where patients engage in online self-learning—allows therapists to serve two to three times as many patients.”



Health123

Unlike today’s telephone-based and paper-based follow-up care plans, Health123 is a cloud platform that enables physicians to engage remotely with patients across multiple visits, such as by providing personalized curated content, health care plans, and direct access to their medical team.

It provides data analytics services to clinics, enabling the tracking of patient adherence to medical advice and recovery progress, thereby furnishing evidence for securing critical medical reimbursement. “To truly empower patients to enhance their self-health management capabilities, we must heed their feedback, address their needs, and place them at the core of the treatment process.”



“We develop personalized medical plans for them, ensuring these plans can be easily integrated into daily life. By providing tools such as mobile checklists and reminders, coupled with guidance from accountable professional physicians, we believe this approach will foster the development of self-health management and eliminate the hassle of in-person doctor visits,” said Rebecca Norlander, CEO of Health123.

Thus, although not yet mainstream, the aforementioned companies and other telemedicine solutions are poised to transform the way people receive medical care, creating better access to healthcare services and more satisfactory recovery outcomes. By reducing paper usage and the frequency of travel for medical visits, telemedicine can also lower carbon emissions in the healthcare industry, thereby contributing to environmental protection.

Text | Li Haoyue
Editor | Zhang Nan