Here’s a mind-blowing set of statistics for you: prior to 2020, only 24 percent of healthcare systems offered any form of virtual care.

In 2020, telehealth visits exploded from less than 50 million annually to an estimated one billion in the United States.

“COVID-19 really is a perfect storm,” said Vivian Lee, President of Platforms for Verily, Google’s life sciences arm, during a recent CES panel discussion. “It’s the point where it’s advantageous to everyone to move to digital health. The payers are the ones who have the most to benefit if they really drive for evidence that it’s improving health. It’s a huge opportunity for employers, too. We don’t have enough money in our economy to pay for healthcare as it is now, so we need to be more efficient.”

The power of digital health’s ability to collect predictive data was on display when Kinsa’s connected thermometer started showing a significant spike in people with high fevers across the country early in 2020 that wasn’t explained by the flu.

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The fever data collected by the Kinsa thermometer was an early warning sign.

“We caught indicators of COVID-19 everywhere about three weeks ahead of when it presented at hospitals,” said Inder Singh, Kinsa’s CEO and Founder. “It shows how important early warning is to managing outbreaks.”

Lee said Verily saw an acceleration of acceptance of digital and telehealth services. In particular, their Onduo online platform for Type 2 diabetes management and glucose monitoring benefitted from older patients concerned about exposure to COVID. Digital health provided a powerful way to help patients manage diabetes at home. Lee saw similar benefits for mental health care.

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Verily's Onduo program gained in popularity as older patients wanted care at home.

Dr. Lee Schwamm, VP of Digital Health Virtual Care at Mass General Brigham said he’s worried that once the pandemic ends the U.S. will return to the status quo rather than embracing digital health and telemedicine. The biggest obstacle will be payers, who are used to a fee-for-service model and could decide to pay doctors less for telehealth visits, putting them in an awkward position. Adopting a value-based payment model is an important part of the transition. “You can’t turn off the fee-for-service engine and expect the system to keep rolling,” he said.

Deconstructing the status quo

The continued growth of digital health will require a deconstruction of the current healthcare model, said Deneen Votja, Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group. She said more payers will be supportive as digital health demonstrates its value. It’s a natural progression. Much of our society is used to facilitated self-service, which is now common in everything from banking and grocery shopping to buying car insurance. Because of the pandemic, healthcare self-service is arriving about 20 years ahead of when it would have otherwise, she said.

“The problem with telehealth now is pretending we liked the old healthcare system with all its social inequalities, racism, and fixed costs,” she said. “We have to do better.”

Dr. Schwamm noted that the deconstruction of the traditional model is taking place with remote patient monitoring and home testing that is a much less expensive way to deliver care. Personalized medicine enabled by technology offers the opportunity to move from an acute-care model to early detection and prevention.

But the barriers are significant. Digital health devices need to be just as available to underserved communities as they are to CES attendees. “An Apple Watch is not accessible to underserved communities,” Singh said. “I pray we don’t forget COVID 19. Once the vaccine is rolled out, we need a concerted effort to make sure we are prepared for the next one.”

And availability of technology will play a huge role in preparedness. Smartphones aren’t the issue, Singh said. He noted about 80 percent of Americans have them and they’re distributed fairly equally around the country. Even so, digital health is at a turning point.

“Ultimately it’s about patient voice,” Dr. Schwamm said. “Patients need to demand it. We’re going to move forward. The question is who we’re going to leave behind. Increasingly, if you don’t have broadband you’re going to be in big trouble.”

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CES 2021: Digital health explodes

Deconstructing the status quo

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