Cablecare

COVID has been particularly cruel to segments of the population, including minorities, nursing home residents and the disabled. Plus, the digital divide persists and is leaving gaps in access to telecare. Those with behavioral health problems are particularly affected since the demand for services vastly outweighs the ability to deliver them. That has created a burst in interest in telebehavioral health ventures.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, young people with disabilities are facing unique challenges. The threat of contracting the virus has led to schools and businesses closing, citizens being told to stay home and shelter in place and hospitals being overrun.?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5% of the world’s population suffers from disabling hearing loss. Five percent may seem like a small number, but that totals over 360 million people across the globe.

The majority of these people live in low- and middle-income countries, where the access to healthcare and quality of health organizations?is lower than that of the United States.

Here are nine companies?Becker's Hospital Review?has covered that have unveiled telehealth strategies in 2021.

1. Dollar General?CEO Todd Vasos gave a?glimpse?into what the discount store chain's healthcare strategy is for its 17,000 U.S. stores. Mr. Vasos said the chain is going to focus on offering services to which rural customers don't have access, such as eye care, telemedicine and prescription drug delivery.
2. Microsoft?has?unveiled?several capabilities for virtual healthcare visits, which can be used through Epic and Cerner EHR. Patients and clinicians can launch telehealth visits through the Microsoft Teams EHR connector for Cerner. Clinicians can launch visits from Cerner PowerChart. The Microsoft Teams EHR connector is also available for patients whose providers use Epic.
3. Verizon?rolled out?BlueJeans Telehealth, a telehealth platform that is intended to simplify patients' experiences, increase access to care and expand the reach of telehealth services available. Verizon said the platform's design focuses on ease of use. It offers patients an optional pre-visit medical condition survey and onboarding materials their providers can customize to best educate them, resulting in reduced time in the virtual waiting room.
4. Amazon Care?is?bringing?telehealth and in-person care to Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and Boston in 2021. Amazon plans to operate in-person healthcare in 20 major cities by the end of 2022.
5. Fitness company?CrossFit, known for its high-intensity group workouts, has?launched?CrossFit Precision Care to provide customers with online personalized medicine. The subscription-based program will provide customers with primary care through telemedicine, as well as preventive medicine and access to health coaches. Patients will be able to have customized nutrition, fitness and health plans developed by health professionals.
6. Walmart Health?is?shuffling?its leadership amid a slow clinic rollout. The retail giant has been focusing on its telehealth initiatives and has pushed back its timeline for brick-and-mortar clinic locations.
7. CareFirst?of Maryland, a Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate,?created?a virtual care delivery model that lets health plan members get preventive, urgent care and behavioral healthcare through a mobile app.
8. Personal genomics company?23andMe?has?entered?into a definitive agreement to acquire the telehealth platform Lemonaid Health, which is expected to be acquired for $400 million.
9. Patients with Apple devices can now?join?telehealth appointments in a HIPAA-compliant setting without downloading?Zoom's app. Zoom added an iOS mobile browser feature to its Zoom for Healthcare platform that allows Apple device users to securely join telehealth appointments directly from their mobile browser.?

Emerging research on COVID-19 shows that the coronavirus pandemic has increased psychological distress both in the general population and among high-risk groups. Behaviors such as physical distancing, as well as their social and economic impacts, are worsening mental health consequences. Research on the psychological impact of mass trauma (e.g., natural disasters, flu outbreaks) suggests that the pandemic might particularly harm the mental health of marginalized populations who have less access to socioeconomic resources and supportive social networks.

There are unique stressors and challenges that could worsen mental health for people with disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Certainly, part of the solution will require new laws and better enforcement of the existing ones. We have a laundry list of changes that need to be made: amending the nation’s fair housing laws to create accessible, affordable, permanent housing; federal regulations on the?accessibility of websites and information technology; addressing the scandalous unemployment of disabled persons (just 30 percent of disabled people or working age are employed), expanding mental health services, particularly for teenagers; getting people out of nursing homes and into their own communities; ensuring that disabled people are part of, not victims of, our responses to national disasters and emergencies, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sickcare USA, Inc has been lax in addressing behavioral health, social determinants and those with disabilities, which have been amplified by the COVID pandemic.

The collision of media, information and communications technologies (MICT) and BIG DIGITAL might be a solution for sickcare, workforce development and education.

Cabled not Disabled is a new reality. But, unlike a vaccine, those with disabilities will still be at risk in the post-COVID 4th industrial revolution. Making it happen will require a new global cybernervous system, education and training, universal broadband access, different customer service requirements and innovative business models. All 2021 and 2022 LG smart TVs will be equipped with a health education and telehealth app from the senior-focused?health platform Independa, the company announced today. The platform will allow users to set up and have telehealth appointments through their TV.

The FDA?issued?a de novo premarket approval for Luminopia's?digital program that aims to treat amblyopia, or lazy eye, using modified TV shows and movies viewed through a virtual reality headset.

Children who are prescribed Luminopia One will wear the VR headset for an hour a day to watch familiar shows and movies of their choice from the comfort of their own homes. The content will be modified in real-time by Luminopia’s algorithms embedded in the headset to promote usage of a patient’s weaker eye and encourage their brains to combine input from both eyes, therefore teaching the eyes to work together.

Creating a better diabled customer experience will mean MICTurating on it, much like PISSing on doctor burnout.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs and Twitter@SoPEOfficial