Portfolio News

The Benefits and Risks of Telehealth Services

The COVID-19 crisis has brought telehealth to the forefront as a way to screen for the disease and to manage care for high-risk patients with chronic illnesses. In fact, among U.S. adults, two-thirds said COVID-19 has made them more willing to try telehealth options. According to the Telehealth Index: 2019 Physician Survey, conducted by telehealth provider Amwell, prior to the pandemic, 20 percent of physicians were using the technology—an increase of 15 percent since 2015. Almost two-thirds of the providers surveyed said they would likely start...

Health Care Payment Reforms and Improved Data Sharing Could Help Contain COVID-19

There is increasing political pressure to “reopen America” and return to normal life as people’s fears about COVID-19 wane—whether that reduction in fear is reasonable or not. But in order to successfully reopen the United States and contain future COVID-19 outbreaks, two things will be needed: more testing and improved data sharing. Two recent papers from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy outline how those changes should be made. First, quick and lasting changes need to be instituted in how health care providers are paid for...

UPS to Fly Medications by Drone to Florida Retirement Area

United Parcel Service will use drones operated by its airline, UPS Flight Forward, to fill prescriptions from a local CVS for residents of retirement community The Villages in Florida. Delivery by UPS and its drone technology partner, Matternet, to The Villages, may eventually be expanded to include more CVS stores. The Villages is one of the largest retirement communities in the country. Located about an hour north of Orlando, the community has about 135,000 residents. Sumter County, where The Villages is located, has had 171 residents...

GRAIL to Present New Data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting

GRAIL has announced that new data for its investigational multi-cancer early detection blood test will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting. These new data evaluate the performance of GRAIL’s test in symptomatic participants with suspicion of cancer. Today, the majority of deadly cancers do not have screening tests that are recommended by guidelines, and as a result, most cancers aren’t detected util they have progressed to late stages when chances of survival are much lower. There is a great...

These Telemental Health Apps Are Making Therapy More Accessible Than Ever

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused even the calmest people to be anxious. The nonprofit Mental Health America reports that it has seen a 12 to 19 percent increase in screening for generalized anxiety disorders since February. “Traditionally, men express more worry about employment and finances, and COVID-19 is extra hard because there’s such a lack of control and security about the future,” Mental Health America Chief Program Officer Theresa Nguyen, LCSW, told Men’s Journal. In men, depression and anxiety often manifests as anger, aggression, risky behavior, or...