Story snapshot:
There is not one person we have all spoken to over the last 2 days who has not been talking about it. The Teladoc-Livongo mega merger is unmissable. Is this the sign that will move skeptics over to believers [in the promise of telehealth]? Are we on track to creating the largest virtual clinic of all time?

Why is it notable? 

• $18.5 billion says it all, that too during a pandemic making a digital health company with a total worth of $37bil is possible.
• Warp speed: Looking back at Livongo's trajectory - they've moved fast, expanded their suite of offerings, published clinical and economic outcome results, acquired most of the large employers in the USA as clients, gone public - all this in just a few years.
• Complementary offerings: Teladoc offers urgent care and telemedicine consultations, while Livongo offers a range of products and services for chronic disease management.

Industry Implications 

• Have we propped up a movement with funny money or is this a stroke of opportunistic genius?
• Telemedicine is flying: AmWell — one of Teladoc’s biggest competitors — recently filed for a confidential initial public offering after raising a $194 million round of financing.
• Expect more gobbles: We can be sure Telavongo will continue to add more companies and products to enhance their offering. This is a great opportunity for health tech start-ups.

Story snapshot: Uber Health has partnered with NimbleRx to enable prescription delivery in Dallas and Seattle.

Why is it notable? 

• Prescription delivery is a key factor in ensuring medication adherence during the pandemic when people need to stay at home, and there may be delays in mail deliveries [mail order pharmacy]
• This only adds to the ever-expanding suite of services that the likes of Uber and Lyft are making available in healthcare, with transportation at the core of it. They have previously enabled non-emergency medical transportation, sending practitioners out to patients, etc.
  

Industry Implications -Patient data and market monopolization concerns need to be averted

• Will this encourage the emergence of e-pharmacies, and easy online ordering of medication, and their swift delivery to patients' homes?
• Benefits to the start up: The NimbleRx network tends to be pharmacy chains with 10 to 20 stores, but the relationship with Uber could be a draw to bigger chains and related drugstore network expansion.
• Global trend: This trend is not limited to the USA alone. Just last week, Amazon launched its online pharmacy in India, Liki24 in Ukraine, among others.
• What happens after the pandemic? Will this remain a long-term lucrative revenue stream for Uber or is this merely a reactive strategy?

‍

Story snapshot: In three years, Ro has managed to hit a reported $1.5 billion valuation for its transformation from a company focused on treating erectile dysfunction to a telemedicine service for a range of elective and urgent care-focused treatments.

Why is it notable? 

Evolving offerings of a very new company: Through Rory for women’s health, Roman for men’s health and Zero for smoking cessation, Ro now treats 20 conditions, including sexual health, weight loss, dermatology, allergies. They have gone from selling erectile dysfunction medication and hair loss supplements to becoming a telehealth company with three online health clinics (with a desire to expand into remote monitoring for chronic conditions)

Ro is D2C, and we as an industry wonder who pays in healthcare but they have demonstrated that in some cases, patients are willing to pay for their own benefit. 

Industry Implications 

Many billions: Not only is Ro valued at >$1 bil, its competitor, Hims is also looking to go public at the $1 billion mark. So, sometimes I wonder if all the conversations we are having on realistically making money from telehealth is an illusion. There is certainly a disconnect - do these valuations mean these companies are making money, have established ROI and robust business models?

Spread too thin: Lately, a lot of companies seem to be venturing into every possible arm of telehealth/virtual care. Will this dilute the quality and experience they are able to offer to patients, clinicians and others? Traditional wisdom would suggest focusing and delivering on one very clear value proposition.