i3 | August 05, 2020

The Intersection of Health Care and Tech

The health tech area has blossomed as companies and entrepreneurs leverage premier hospitals, universities and a collaborative tech scene across the nation. According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. spends roughly $3.5 trillion a year on health care or nearly $11,000 per person. Health tech companies are addressing some of the largest issues resulting in products and services that improve care, increase efficiencies, reduce costs and help seniors remain independent. Here is a look at five top companies that are helping to shape the future of health care.

98point6

98point6 is using technology to bring affordable, primary care to everyone. This on-demand, text-based service covers the full spectrum of primary care — from medical questions, to diagnosis and treatment, to prescriptions and labs. Staffed by board-certified physicians, the doctors are available 24/7. 98point6 combines the expertise of these physicians with the power of artificial intelligence (AI). Here’s how it works: the company’s AI was developed to optimize the patient experience. Not only does it gather information upfront, it learns from each visit, getting smarter each time it is used. This technology helps streamline patient visits to enable fast access to health care whenever patients need it.

Best Buy Health

Health monitoring services for seniors and other digital health initiatives are shaping up to be a key strategy going forward for Best Buy. The company is focusing on tech-enabled senior care and is in several pilots with managed care organizations. In October, Best Buy bought GreatCall, provider of Jitterbug mobile phones and monitoring services for seniors; as well as senior-focused health services company Critical Signal Technologies; and the predictive health care tech business BioSensics that uses wearable sensor technology to detect falls and issues facing seniors. Best Buy’s emphasis on serving the aging population is an untapped opportunity.

Ginger

The mobile platform from Ginger offers mental health support with on-demand access to behavioral health coaching, video therapy and video psychiatry that is clinically proven to reduce stress. Its mobile app supports employees experiencing challenges with work, relationships, anxiety or depression. Members chat live with a coach anytime and from anywhere – and receive emotional support to help overcome difficulties. The team-based approach includes built-in assessments to ensure measurement-based progress and offers personalized care using activity cards with clinically validated, interactive self-care content curated by coaches to help members practice skills needed to manage stress.

HP

HP has developed technology for the health care industry to put the doctor, clinician and patient needs first while also optimizing clinical workflows. The company offers help for those on the front lines of health care with a product guide to equip emergency responses and advice on how to clean and sanitize HP devices. It has the strongest firewalls and server infrastructure protection to secure endpoints like PCs and printers connected to the network to ensure they do not become compromised putting the network, and patient data connected to it, at risk.

Validic

Validic’s mobile solutions provide continuous access to personal health data from over 350 in-home medical devices and wearables with a comprehensive toolset to administer programs, elevate critical data, onboard and enroll members and manage device connections. Validic powers scalable, personalized wellness and remote care initiatives. The company has developed the infrastructure to scale millions of connected users and to process hundreds of billions of data transactions per month. Validic also has COVID-19 rapid deployment remote monitoring for employers and health care organizations to monitor employees, patients and others for symptoms.

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