STAT NEWS:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has forced a rapid evolution of the entire health care industry — and in particularly, the field of health tech”.
With telehealth services positioned to become a crucial part of health care delivery, there is concern about whether the industry will be able to meet an unprecedented surge in patients. Complicating matters: health tech companies have long relied on selling their benefits straight to employers in order to reach a larger pool of individual workers —a growth tactic that is now at risk as economies buckle and employers cut costs with massive lay-offs.
Some companies are responding to the challenge better than others, fueling a growing gulf in the industry, as STAT’s Rebecca Robbins and Erin Brodwin explained in a recent analysis.
The pandemic has also forced some health tech companies to rewrite their playbooks in real time. A prime example: Quil, Comcast’s startup focused on giving people simple, step-by-step guidance to help them navigate big health events. The company has pivoted its strategy to adapt to the new realities of health care delivery in the time of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the tech companies are marching on in their efforts to expand into health care. Fitbit launched an ambitious study this month to test whether its wearables can be used to detect a common heart problem known as atrial fibrillation. The move comes six months after Google announced plans to acquire Fitbit in a $2.1 billion deal, and brings Fitbit into the ranks of other prominent tech giants who have begun to edge into the cardiology space.