SERVICES

Connected Health is the Rx for Healthcare Innovation

JUL 15

TripleTree has been evangelizing Connected Health’s impact in the broader healthcare landscape for years.  We continue to use our sponsorship of the WLSA and our iAwards program to not only recognize Connected Health’s brightest innovators, but also keep a close eye on developing trends and technologies.

Earlier this year, the 2015 iAward finalists were invited to present at the WLSA’s Convergence Summit, which remains an intimate forum for innovation to a broad scope of industry leaders and attracts the best health systems, payers, pharma and biosciences companies, and early-stage pioneers.

A summary of this year’s event can be found here.

This year’s iAward winners – GoodRxMagellan Health/Cobalt, and Emmi Solutions – along with six very strong finalist candidates – Alegeus TechnologiesArborMetrixHealthPrizeIntelligent InSitesVitalConnect, and Welltok – all demonstrate the unique ways that Connected Health solutions are meaningfully helping the healthcare industry adapt to an environment of constant change and uncertainty.

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Recent headlines spanning various sectors of the healthcare landscape are also validating Connected Health’s importance and the momentum that these solutions are driving in transforming the industry:Click to enlarge

  • Google introduced a wearable device that will monitor specific health metrics of patients participating in clinical trials and new drug tests, and wirelessly transmit the data directly to doctors
  • CVS Health announced it is opening an Innovation Lab in Boston dedicated to developing Digital/Connected Health technologies and services that will improve the experience of its customers
  • Connected Health provider HealthTap partnered with Quest Diagnostics to provide various diagnostic testing service options for doctors treating patients in a virtual setting, the first such partnership between a major medical laboratory provider and virtual care company
  • CMS proposed a measure to reimburse physicians for providing advanced care planning to their patients – an area where digital companies like AdVault and its MyDirectives.com offering are empowering consumers to have their voice heard during a healthcare crisis and helping doctors make important decisions related to treatment preferences and end-of-life options


Another major headline this month was the successful IPO of telehealth company Teladoc (a 2011 iAward finalist), who garnered enthusiasm during its road show in large part because of the attractive market opportunity telehealth presents.  With digital health funding in 2015 following closely in line with last year’s record numbers and IPO activity poised to surpass 2014 in both number of offerings and performance, support in both the private and public markets confirms Connected Health’s positive impact across healthcare.

Unarguably the biggest industry news of the last few weeks, Aetna’s acquisition of Humana, held strong Connected Health implications as well.

While much of the commentary has been focused on the value of Humana’s Medicare Advantage business, we also note the Connected Health capabilities of the combined entity and the central role they play in both organizations’ strategies to drive engagement, Population Health Management, and other core initiatives.

During the conference call announcing the acquisition, Aetna’s CEO Mark Bertolini said the company is continuing to build a non-regulated services strategy which currently accounts for 1/3 of free cash flows of what will become the combined company.  While much of this is attributable to the Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) business, the Connected Health solutions of Aetna’s Healthagen (a 2011 iAward finalist for its iTriage solution) and Humana’s newly-formed Transcend will undoubtedly be notable contributors as well.

Connected Health innovators are enabling physicians to manage populations, engaging consumers in their healthcare decisions, and addressing many other important issues facing the healthcare industry.  Let us know what you think.

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Scott Donahue
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Spencer Evenson
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