The era of telehealth is upon us. As patients try to avoid hospital rooms right now, a growing number of people have turned to telehealth from the comfort of their home to limit contact with potentially infectious areas and people. U.S. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order giving telehealth a broader role under Medicare. And, thanks to major advances in information and technology, the global telehealth market is expected to reach $185.66 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 23.5%. This all bodes well for companies like Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE:TDOC), CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS), Livongo Health Inc. (NASDAQ:LVGO), 1Life Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ:ONEM), and Mydecine Innovations Group, Inc. (CSE:MYCO) (OTC:MYCOF).
Mydecine’s Telehealth App Appears to Offer a Unique Solution to Mental Health Treatment
Telehealth encompases an array of different approaches, such as the use of telecommunications and remote patient monitoring instruments like portable technology, live video chat, digital data transmission, and portable safety (mHealth) applications for mobile devices. This means that health technology companies that provide virtual care and digital health management such as Mydecine Innovations Group, Inc. (CSE:MYCO) (OTC:MYCOF) can leverage telehealth in a number of unique ways.
Mydecine develops and produces adaptive pathway medicine, natural health products, and digital health solutions. One of its key objectives is to use telehealth as an avenue to tend to patients with mental disorders.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary Mindleap Health, Mydecine Innovations Group’s digital health platform will provide support for people looking to overcome mental health challenges and achieve personal transformation.
Mindleap is developing new “30-day transformation” programs, which will include comprehensive addiction, psychedelic integration, and holistic wellness programs designed to empower users to improve their well-being and will be offered as in-app purchases on the platform this fall.
Mindleap’s founder, Nikolai Vassev, commented: “Our focus is on creating real solutions for the mental health crisis and these new offerings will allow Mindleap to have international reach and affect more lives during these times of crisis. The pandemic has left people depressed, isolated and support is needed now more than ever.”
Plenty of Market Share to Go Around
As telehealth expands, so too does the market value. Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE:TDOC), the world’s leader in virtual care, announced its merger with Livongo Health Inc., a combined entity that will provide greater access to patients, employers, health plans, and insurers. Existing Teladoc Health shareholders will own ~58% and existing Livongo shareholders will own ~42% of the combined company.
From an investor perspective, the merger makes plenty of sense as it will result in revenue synergies of $100M by the end of the second year following the close, reaching $500 million on a run rate basis by 2025 and cost synergies of $60M by the end of the second year.
Even before the onset of the pandemic, CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) had already announced plans of bringing its telehealth footprint to more than half the country. The company’s MinuteClinic service, already available on Teladoc’s Health telemedicine platform, allows CVS Health customers to initiate a virtual visit on the mobile device of their choice through the CVS Pharmacy app for a flat fee.
During the company’s first quarter earnings call, CVS chief executive Larry Merlo reiterated just how well the industry is doing. “Utilization of telemedicine for virtual visits through MinuteClinic is up about 600% compared to the first quarter of 2019,” he said.
Livongo Health Inc. (NASDAQ:LVGO) pioneered the category of Applied Health Signals to offer members clinically-based insights that make it easier for a person to stay healthy. Using its AI+AI engine, Livongo aggregates and interprets substantial amounts of health data and information to create actionable, personalized, and timely health signals delivered to members exactly when and where they need them.
Livongo’s second quarter earnings gave quite a bit of insight into the state of telehealth, reaffirming the bright prospects of the broader industry. Not only was total revenue for the quarter up 125% year-over-year, driven by the continued adoption of the Applied Health Signals platform, but clients also increased 75% over the same time frame, which perhaps explains why the company was so attractive to Teladoc.
1Life Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ:ONEM) is a relatively young public company, considering it had its IPO back in January this year. The company has, however, proved that it’s just as innovative as its peers in more ways than one, going by its second quarter earnings results. Revenue increased 18% year-over-year, while membership grew 25% to 475,000 members.
1Life’s revenue model employs a multi-pronged approach. Access is only granted via a membership-based gateway and at the same time, the company leverages its proprietary software solutions across 70-plus primary care/testing locations
According to analysts at Forrester, coronavirus-related virtual telehealth visits could top 900 million this year, based on current projections for COVID-19 infections in the U.S. Furthermore, the isolating factors of the pandemic, which are severely impacting many people’s mental health, are pushing even more people to seek help through online means, making companies like Mydecine Innovations Group, Inc., through its Mindleap digital health platform, extremely well positioned to benefit from this trend. At the moment, most consumers are flocking to telehealth due to the pandemic but they are likely to stay for its convenience.
For more information about Mydecine Innovations Group, Inc., click here.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © simpson33
