In yet another development for telemedicine, the University of Washington‘s heath system has launched a virtual clinic that will be operated by Seattle-based Carena, according to a report in Xconomy.
This has been a busy week for telehealth, although the deal between UW Medicine and Carena is from January. Earlier this week, the University of Mississippi Medical Center launched its own telehealth center, Avera Health shared insights on its massive operations and two startups teams up to make the insurance process easier for consumers regarding telemedicine.
The UW Medicine-Carena deal echos much of the industry’s approach on telemedicine, in that it’s a health system-vendor partnership versus a health system undertaking its own efforts. This particular effort will address common ailments and relatively routine care, like mile dermatological issues like warts and acne, or things like the flu, for $40 a visit via table, mobile or computer. It will include prescriptions for some medications and visits can typically be conducted within a half hour of scheduling, Xconomy reports.
Interestingly, UW Medicine is well-versed in telehealth, but it nevertheless opted for an outsourced version, which speaks to the question of how to approach the medium.
Tamara St. Claire, chief innovation officer of commercial healthcare for Xerox, recently remarked on this very issue.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult for big health systems to change their business models, so in the beginning it will come from more small startups. And I think it will be an interesting mix,” she said.
Dr. John Scott, medical director for telehealth at UW, told Xconomy that he was impressed by Carena’s offerings.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
From Xconomy:
The University of Washington has some 40 years of experience with telemedicine, helping it provide care and training across a five-state area comprised of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Scott says in the 1970s, UW doctors used NASA satellites to communicate in remote areas of Alaska, for example.
What’s different now is the ubiquity of smart phones and other technologies that enable telemedicine’s rapid growth, Dr. Scott noted.
