The conference came to a close on Wednesday with the annual Launch!, where 10 new digital health companies got the chance to demo their products on stage and the audience gets to text in their vote to determine a winner. This year’s winner was MedWand, for their telemedicine device that enables healthcare providers to perform a physical exam via a PC or mobile device. In their demo, the doctor checked up on a patient in Nevada via video. The patient used MedWand so the doctor could examine her ear, nose, and throat and a resolved rash the patient had previously. Other Tech Startups as the finalists in Launch! Included:

1. Bloom Technologies introduced their first product Belli, a personal pregnancy coach comprised of a reusable sensor and a disposable patch that women can wear in their third trimester. The sensor snaps into the patch and can be worn discretely under clothes to monitor activity, calories, stress, sleep, fetal movements, and contractions, which can all be viewed on the mobile app and sent to anyone else on the caregiving team.
2. uncleCare is all about increasing patient engagement with their homecare guide and remote monitor, Heartizi. Currently specialized in Anticoagulation Therapy and looking to expand to other disorders, Heartizi is centered on a to-do list that displays the dose of Coumadin the patient needs to take that day as well as a reminder to measure and record blood pressure and self-test PT/INR. This tackles the confusion of variable doses throughout the week for Coumadin patients. Patient engagement and response to therapy can be viewed through PT/INR trendline visible both on the app and on the care managers monitor, and the patient can report information currently collected to the clinic via telephone as well as ask non-emergency questions.
3. Vivor acts as a financial advisor for cancer patients to seek the financial resources they need and matches a patient based on their patient profile to funds they qualify for. Their PAPNavigator searches through hundreds of potential funds, then pulls out any that the patient can qualify for and prepopulates the application forms. Currently, cancer patients are 2.5 times more likely to go into bankruptcy than the average patient and Vivor hopes to make a dent in that number.
4. PeerWell’s motto is “community + science = better health”.  PeerWell’s Mental Clarity program brings people with similar mindsets and goals together and assigns them weekly tasks based on clinically proven cognitive behavioral therapy protocols for the individual and their team to complete together, all that while chatting and supporting one another.
5. Flow Health a tech startups is a network that aims to give the patient control of their health data by building a patient centered record that follows the patient everywhere and connects to providers and payers as well.  Patients get to choose who has access and can revoke access if necessary. Flow Health is doing away with the usual clipboard sign in with their Patient Check-In app for the iPad, which will notify providers and send necessary updates.
6. Nurx is a fast and easy way to get prescription birth control pills. Their mobile app sets up a simple health profile for the user and then asks 8 simple questions drawn straight from the CDC to help prescribe the pill. The user can choose a brand they prefer or ask the Nurx doctor to write a prescription for what they think is best. Built in the app is a HIPAA compliant messaging system with the doctor who can, if necessary, reach out to patients via a phone or video call as well. Nurx claims that the whole process, from start to delivery, can be done in 90 minutes or less. Their service is free with insurance or can be used with cash.
7. Gliimpse a health tech start up is an online service that aggregates the user’s entire health history from different health facilities and organizes it to create a clean, comprehensive, and simple to understand health profile. The user tells Gliimpse which health systems and vendors to pull their records from, can add documents and images to their Gliimpse, and input any of their own data to their profile. Gliimpse also creates graphs to help the patient visualize trends in various metrics overtime, such as HDL levels. Similar to Flow Health, the patient can see who is sharing their health with him, who the patient is sharing his record with, and revoke access to anyone if he so chooses.
8. Docola a health tech start up believes that “knowledge is medicine”. In an effort to better patient education and increase patient engagement, they have collected thousands of pieces of information on their portal, through which a provider can pick any relevant pieces and combine them into courses. The provider can then prescribe the course to their patient and track patient understanding by creating quizzes based on the course. Patients can also share their personal experiences with specific illnesses, which can also be pulled from and prescribed to similar patients.
9. Sensentia demoed a fully automated inquiry system that enables members and payers to verify benefits for healthcare in real time, empowering patients and caregivers to make better health care decisions. The user submits a question via the mobile app or web and, using natural language processing, Sensentia returns all options of where to receive care and then sorts the benefits for each service.

Telemedicine Technology

With the emerging issue on COVID-19, telemedicine technology is gaining popularity. Of course, caregivers from a homecare provider can initiate the telemedicine session on behalf of their patients, most especially among seniors.

What Is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine refers to the use of technology to enable remote healthcare or telehealth, making it possible for doctors to treat their patients anytime and anywhere.

How Does Telemedicine Work?

It involves the digital transmission of remote medical diagnoses, medical imaging, and video consultations to attain the best possible evaluation and care for patients who cannot visit the doctor’s office.

Best Practices of Starting Telemedicine

Starting a telemedicine program is a great health-tech startup that can help you generate more revenue with reduced overhead costs.

Here are the best practices to start a telemedicine startup:

• Define Your Clear Goals: How do you want patients to use your telemedicine program? How can it impact your revenue, wait times, cancellations, and customer satisfaction?
• Involve Your Staff: Get enough people who can help you roll-out your telemedicine program.
• Study the Reimbursement Regulations in Your State: Check regulations for reimbursements for video visits.
• Find the Right Telemedicine Technology Partner: Know the telemedicine technologies available, and consider ease of use and security. It should be equipped with a patient verification feature to check for reimbursement eligibility.
• Determine How Telemedicine Should Be Utilized: You can block off certain times of the week for telemedicine or remote visits. You can also make video visits when your clinic is closed.
• Market Your Telemedicine Service: Make sure that all your patients know that your telemedicine program exists. Give them a video visit option by posting signs in your clinic, sending an email, or verbally mentioning every time a patient visits your clinic.

Conclusion

Now you have an idea of the best health tech startups you can try. Take note that each has its own benefits geared towards providing quality patient care while earning good profits. From basic healthcare services, financial aspects, patient care management, and telemedicine programs, health tech startups help both patients and healthcare providers in different ways.

Check my other articles on the Health 2.0 coverage here, and here.