Telemedicine service provider American Well has added another luminary to its board: Dr. Peter Slavin, president of Massachusetts General Hospital. Slavin joins the likes of former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Brendan O’Grady, CEO of Teva North American Generics, on the board; Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals is an investor in American Well.
Slavin is a big booster of telemedicine; Mass General has programs in stroke, cardiology, burn care, radiology, pediatrics and psychiatry. The hospital also facilitates real-time consultation between primary care physicians and specialists.
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“We’re also trying to provide second opinions” by telemedicine,
Slavin said. Parent organization Partners HealthCare already does.
“I think it’s definitely on the upswing,” Slavin said of telehealth. He cited the convenience of it, as well as the imperative providers feek have to reduce costs, operate more efficiently and provide better care. “The American system is under enormous pressure to get more efficient.”
Telehealth, of course, is still trying to find its footing, particularly in the wake of the failure of formerly high-flying HealthSpot. “We may be past infancy, but we’re still just at the toddler stage of this technology,” Slavin said.
Slavin indicated that he got asked to be on the board by American Well founders Dr. Ido Schoenberg and Dr. Roy Schoenberg, whom he has known professionally and socially for several years. He said that he would recuse himself from any Mass General decisions related to American Well, in the name of ethics.
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While Mass General isn’t a current American Well customer, the Boston institution once was, a company spokeswoman said.
Photo: Yoon S. Byun
