Telemedicine, Health Tech

Wireless carriers wade into telehealth

Mobile carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile are dipping their toe into telehealth through partnerships and acquisitions. Earlier this month, Verizon rolled out a telehealth platform based on video conferencing software BlueJeans

Verizon rolled out a telehealth service after acquiring video conferencing platform BlueJeans last year. Photo credit: Verizon

A handful of wireless carriers are testing out new telehealth efforts. In the last month, Verizon and T-Mobile have dipped their toes into telehealth through partnerships and acquisitions.

Earlier this month, Verizon shared it had rolled out a telehealth service based on video conferencing platform BlueJeans, which it bought for about $400 million last year. Similar to Zoom’s efforts to position itself as a telehealth platform, the idea was to build a service that healthcare providers could use for video visits.

Verizon embedded it into Epic’s electronic health record system, and also implemented a virtual “waiting room” with a pre-visit survey and educational materials. It also plans to offer medical interpretation, captioning and transcription services.

So far, the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine have implemented it, according to the company.

Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin said in a news release that the launch was “…just the beginning for Verizon in what we see as the future of telehealth, especially when you consider the innovation that will come from 5G mobility, broadband and cloud capabilities.”

More recently, T-Mobile U.S. struck a partnership with Zyter, a Maryland-based startup that makes software for telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. The two companies struck a “go-to-market” agreement that would give T-Mobile’s healthcare customers, such as health systems and payers, access to Zyter’s solutions on their existing hardware.

“This is a significant agreement for Zyter as it enables us to leverage the vast resources and footprint of T-Mobile to make our digital health solutions more accessible to more patients,” Zyter Founder and CEO Sanjay Govil said in a news release.

Unlike consumer-focused services, such as Teladoc or Doctor on Demand, these partnerships are focused more on helping practices and hospitals build out software for virtual visits.

Both partnerships also serve as a way for carriers to tout their networks as they aggressively market new wireless standard 5G. But it’s less clear how they will win over users in an increasingly crowded market.

For example, Google has also set its sights on telehealth, among its broader healthcare efforts, after making an investment in Amwell last year.  As investors continue to pour funding into telehealth and health IT companies, they’ll face more competition.

 

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