Growing Focus on Providing Equitable Access to Essential Healthcare Services to Every Patient to Drive Telehealth Market Growth

 

Telehealth can be defined as the delivery of healthcare services such as virtual visits, consultations, and remote monitoring through digital information and communication technologies such as mobile devices and computers. Telehealth has expanded the reach of medical services in remote and low-resource settings and has provided access to all across the globe. Telehealth leverages technology-based virtual platforms to deliver various aspects of health information, prevention, monitoring, and medical care. Over the recent past, telehealth has emerged as the fastest growing sector of healthcare with telemedicine at its core. Telemedicine can be defined as the practice of medicine through remote electronic interface. Telehealth aims to eliminate transportation costs that can be a burden to patients of low socioeconomic status and has the potential to improve health literacy by providing patient education and reduce hospitalization by promotion medication adherence.

One of the major applications of telehealth is the reduction of health disparities with limited access to physician. This could enable delivery of advanced healthcare facilities in rural areas where lesser number of physicians serve. In addition to improving access to healthcare facilities, telehealth is expected to reduce financial burdens on the health care systems of the countries. Telehealth and its related-technology can reduce referrals, streamline and optimize medical evaluations and tests, and reduce burden of certain preventable diseases. Increasing focus and emphasis on patient satisfaction, provision of efficient and quality care to patients, and minimal costs have led to large implementation of telehealth services. COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the adoption of telehealth services amid increasing concerns regarding risk of infections from face to face clinical interactions. Increasing research activities have been carried out to understand the impact of telehealth on the healthcare sector and its role in expanding access to healthcare facilities.

In a bid to understand other impacts of telehealth, researchers from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in a May 2022 study found that telehealth appointments saved over 2.2 million gallons of gas for patients since the beginning of the pandemic. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center built a dashboard to estimate the impact of telehealth on the environment and through examination of reduced travel enabled by virtual visits, the researchers from the IT and sustainability team calculated use of gasoline and carbon emissions. The IT and sustainability team collaborated with a regional transportation authority to calculate the travel distance, usage of gasoline, and carbon emissions avoided by the patients.

Free Sample Copy Available@ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-sample/893

In May 2022, MeMD, Walmart’s telehealth company, announced the launch of a virtual care diabetes program that is aimed at helping individuals improve diabetes management. The initiative is called the Walmart Health Virtual Care Diabetes Program and is developed for employers and payers as a standalone offering or a as a part of the comprehensive telehealth program. The program combines personalized diabetes education, behavioral health awareness and counselling, patients can connect with licensed medical provider to manage their lifestyle and symptoms. Main aim of the program is to identify and bridge the gaps in care and depression risks and allow scheduling of a follow-up visit with licensed behavioral health therapists to address each area of diabetes.   

Key companies operating in the telehealth market are investing heavily in developing robust telehealth platform to improve healthcare delivery and patient experience. Major companies operating in the market include Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Medtronic, GE Healthcare, Cerner Corporation, Siemens Healthineers, Cisco Systems, Inc., Teladoc Health Inc., American Well, AMC Health, MDLive, Doctor on Demand, Medvivo Group Ltd., Asahi Kasei Corporation, Iron Bow Technologies, Telespecialists LLC, GlobalMed, MedWeb, IMediplus Inc., Vsee, Chiron Health, and Zipnosis. In May 2022, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced award of USD 16.3 million to enhance and expand telehealth care and infrastructure and capacity of Title X Family planning clinics across 26 states, one U.S. territory, and one freely associated state.

Growing Importance of Biobanks in Advancing Medical Research and Discovery to Drive Biobanking Market Growth

 

Biobanking is the process by which samples of bodily fluids or tissues are collected for research purposes to advance understanding of health and diseases. Biobanks are large collections of human biological materials that are linked to relevant personal and health information and can include health records, family history, and lifestyle and genetic information, among others. Biobanks are considered as legal entities or parts of a legal entity that perform biobanking. Biobanking is the process of acquisitioning and storing along with other activities that are related to collection, preparation, and preservation and testing og define biological material and related information and data. Over the last decade, field of biobanking has rapidly grown alongside advancements in precision medicine and biobanks have been linked to advancement in screening and treating any disease, starting with cancer.

Modern biobanks allow large-scale analysis for assessing individual markers of specific diseases from biological or digital material with well-annotated clinical and biological data. These features play an important role in improving personalized medical approaches, where effective biomarker identification plays a crucial part in disease diagnosis and prognosis. Modern biobanks function as complex infrastructure where professionals such as clinicians, biologists, nurses, technicians, and bioethicists work together to guarantee the right to use human biological materials. Over the last few decades, technological advances such as automated sample processing, computerization, and the advent of internet revolutionized the management of biobanks. Biobanks can exist within research centers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and patient advocacy organizations.

In a recent news, in April 2022, Al Jalila Foundation, which is a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, announced its plan to establish U.A.E.’s first robotic biobank in collaboration with Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). The partnership aims to advance medical research in the field of genetic disorders, cancer, and other chronic diseases and pandemics. The biobank is scheduled to open in 2023 with a capacity to manage and process seven million specimens and is set to be the largest biobank in terms of sample capacity in the world.

In a breakthrough study published in the journal Animals, it was suggested biobanking and assisted reproduction will help captive breeding programs to maintain genetic diversity and save koalas from extinction. This PhD research carried out at The University of Newcastle is the culmination of years spent in developing and analysing robust model of biobanking and assistive reproduction for various species that are endangered and was found to be more beneficial for koala bears.

Over the years, increasing advancements have been done to improve biobanking owing to a rapid surge in genomic research, regenerative medicines, and stem cell therapeutics. Major companies have invested in R&D and this has led to an increasing need for biobanking. Key companies in the market include K. Biobank Limited, Medizinische Universitat Graz, Hamilton Company, ASKION, Azenta Life Sciences, Qiagen, Promega Corporation, Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL), Isenet Biobanking, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. In April 2021, Monash University launched first-of-its-kind industry focused storage facility for biological material in Australia. Biobanking Victoria is a state-of-the-art facility that aims to serve as a valuable link between researchers and industry and is backed by the Victorian Government.