Events, Telemedicine

ATA: Where telehealth and strategic investment converge

During a plenary session at the ATA conference, a group of strategic investors shared their ideas on the growing field of telehealth.

L to R: Moderator Grant Chamberlain, Jeff Stolte, Rob Coppedge, Tom Rodgers, John Hopper and moderator Alexis Gilroy at ATA 2017

L to R: Moderator Grant Chamberlain, Jeff Stolte, Rob Coppedge, Tom Rodgers, John Hopper and moderator Alexis Gilroy at ATA 2017

In a growing and changing industry like telehealth, strategic investors play a key role in determining the winners and losers. What challenges are facing telehealth today? How is the telehealth sector evolving? And what should new companies keep in mind as they bring their solutions and ideas to the space?

During the April 25 morning plenary session at ATA, a group of experts weighed in.

“I think the biggest challenge is still lack of awareness in the moment,” said Tom Rodgers, senior vice president and managing director of McKesson Ventures. “In the moment when you’re about to intersect with the healthcare system, that’s when there isn’t awareness of the telehealth options.”

John Hopper, managing director of Link-age Ventures and chief investment officer of the Ziegler Link-age Longevity Fund, posited that the healthcare industry’s slow-moving nature impacts the growth of telehealth. “Our industry’s a relatively conservative one,” he said.

Still, organizations are striving to focus on improving access for patients. “Through the provider lens, we don’t think about it as an arm’s race or trying to increase volumes,” said Jeff Stolte, a partner at Providence Ventures. “We think about access.”

Telehealth is clearly trying to evolve. The space is overwhelmed with startups, so much so that Rodgers said we’re “in pilot purgatory.” Rob Coppedge, CEO of Echo Health Ventures, seconded that notion. “You have all this noise, but not a clear path as to how to differentiate,” he said.

And looking ahead, new companies have to figure out how to do just that: set themselves apart. But how?

“This is going to be a hard time to raise money for young companies over the next few years,” Coppedge said. He stressed the importance of “doing your homework” and “understanding the landscape.”

Hopper agreed. “Understand the role of the investor,” he told the audience. “Be strategic about your capital plan.”

Rodgers focused instead on telling new companies what not to do. “Don’t come in drawing analogies to the tech world and saying you’re the WhatsApp of healthcare,” he said. “The fact that you or a loved one has had a bad experience with the healthcare system doesn’t necessarily qualify you to be a CEO.”

Overall, the panelists agreed that despite the pilot purgatory we’re in, telehealth will eventually become more accepted. “When we can no longer view telehealth as something unique and new and just as how we deliver services, that will be the breakout moment,” Hopper said.

Photo: Erin Dietsche

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