Demand for telehealth in the U.S. could create a $250 billion market opportunity. All as hospitals, federal, and state governments around the world support telehealth programs to cut back on in-person meetings in in-patient and out-patient care settings.
"Telehealth is ideally suited to meet the demands of inpatient care while at the same time reducing virus transmission, stretching human and technical resources, and protecting patients and healthcare workers in the inpatient care setting," Duke University researchers in an article published in the Journal of American Informatics Association, as quoted by Healthcare IT News.
Better, according to a new report by McKinsey & Co., 76% of consumers say they were now moderately or highly interested in using telehealth, as compared to 11% in 2019. As demand rockets higher, some of the top companies leading the charge include CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (TSXV:DOC)(OTCQB:DOCRF), Telus (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU), Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE:TDOC), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM).
CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (TSXV:DOC)(OTCQB:DOCRF) BREAKING NEWS: CloudMD Software & Services Inc, a telemedicine company seeking to revolutionize the delivery of healthcare to patients, announced today its intent to acquire a medical clinic based in Metro Vancouver, BC (the “Clinic”). The Company has signed a Binding Term Sheet (the “Term Sheet”) with the Clinic to acquire 100% of the business, assets and operations.
The recent oversubscribed bought deal financing positioned CloudMD with significant capital to accelerate its M&A activity to scale and grow the business quickly and effectively. The acquisition of the Clinic is a significant part of CloudMD’s defined growth strategy and upon completion of the acquisition, CloudMD will immediately increase its topline revenue by unlocking the $3 million revenue from the cashflow positive business.
The Clinic is a premier provider of integrated medical solutions and an early adopter of telemedicine delivery. The Clinic has been able to streamline healthcare services and provide longitudinal and team-based patient centric care by offering a number of medical services from one location. The clinic operates with 24 healthcare professionals across various specialities including mental health, women’s health, sports medicine, gynecology and psychiatry. The Clinic already uses online booking, EMR and telemedicine that will be easily integrated into CloudMD’s EMR software and clinic network.
Essam Hamza, CEO of CloudMD commented, “COVID-19 and the cash injection from the most recent financing were transformational for us and accelerated our growth plans by 3-5 years. The funds raised gives us a war chest of capital to deploy on strategic, accretive acquisitions already in our due diligence pipeline. The acquisition of this clinic not only increases our top line revenue by $3 million, but it’s also an important part of our growth strategy as we expand our hybrid digital clinic footprint across Canada and the United States.”
In consideration for the purchase of all of the outstanding securities of the medical clinic, CloudMD has agreed to pay Shareholders (pro-rata) aggregate consideration of up to $700,000 payable as to $200,000 in cash and up to $500,000 in shares of the Company, a portion of which is subject to the achievement of certain performance conditions, and a customary working capital adjustment. All shares issued pursuant to the acquisition are priced at the ten-day volume weighted trading price of the Company shares for the 10 trading days prior to the execution of the definitive agreement.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the execution of a definitive acquisition agreement and receipt of TSX Venture exchange approval. The Company anticipates a definitive agreement on or before July 1, 2020.
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Telus Health (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU) announced the expansion of its Home Health Monitoring (HHM) solution so that nurses and other healthcare providers in British Columbia can digitally monitor more patients remotely while they recover from COVID-19. Launched in partnership with the B.C. Ministry of Health and local health authorities, this digital health dashboard enables healthcare providers to track the symptoms and provide medical help for more patients as they recover outside of hospitals in the comfort of their own homes. “As we face the immense challenge of COVID-19, TELUS Health is committed to working alongside BC’s healthcare leaders to expand the use of technology solutions like Home Health Monitoring to support more British Columbians while recovering at home,” said Darren Entwistle, president and CEO, TELUS. “By enabling clinicians to remotely observe the vitals of patients with COVID-19, as well as those who are vulnerable to the virus, and provide necessary interventions early, we can reduce exposure and also help to alleviate the pressure in hospital emergency rooms and clinics.”
Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE:TDOC) highlighted the widespread negative mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the corresponding growing proactive support by employers to help meet the need, and the increased interest and comfort in virtual care options as part of American’s mental health and wellness. The study of 1558 employees (or those recently employed) in the U.S. and Canada, was conducted in mid-April by marketing research and analytics firm, Leger which was commissioned by global virtual care leaders, Teladoc Health, as a follow up to the company’s 2019 international mental health study conducted last fall by Ipsos MORI. As a result of COVID-19, a significant number of respondents said their mental health has been negatively impacted (47%), with the negative impact on women (52%) far greater than men (42%). Nearly half (49%) between the ages of 18-34 reported being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend that was similar to Canadian respondents (52%) of the same age, and consistent with findings from the fall study that revealed a greater need among this demographic. Those over the age of 65 – an age group that has been deemed most at risk for the virus – experienced the lowest reported negative impact in the United State (38%) and Canada (37%). Since March 1, Teladoc’s mental health visits for ages 18-30 more than doubled over the prior two months, and members diagnosed with adjustment anxiety disorder has increased by 60%.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS) helped The World Health Organization (WHO) launch an app to “support health workers around the world in caring for patients infected by COVID-19, as well as to protect themselves as they do this critical work,” according to The Amazon Blog. “The app enables workers to access the WHO’s rapidly expanding bank of educational material and guidance, along with offering virtual skills workshops and other live training. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has helped the WHO launch the app, 12 months ahead of schedule, in response to COVID-19. It is one of multiple ways we are supporting the WHO with advanced cloud technologies and technical expertise, to help accelerate global efforts to track the coronavirus, understand its outbreak, and better contain its spread.”
Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) announced that Brian A. Kane, Chief Financial Officer, will make a presentation to investors at the Goldman Sachs Healthcare Conference on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available via Humana’s Investor Relations page at humana.com. The company suggests webcast participants sign on approximately 15 minutes in advance of the presentation to allow time to run a system test and download any free software needed for access purposes.
Legal Disclaimer / Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Winning Media is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Winning Media is only compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation. Pursuant to an agreement between Winning Media and CloudMD Software & Services Inc., Winning Media has been paid three thousand five hundred dollars for advertising and marketing services for CloudMD Software & Services Inc. We own ZERO shares of CloudMD Software & Services Inc. Please click here for full disclaimer.
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