CVS Health beat third-quarter forecasts thanks partially to its growing pharmacy benefits management side, but the health care giant is cautious about next year. Interim Chief Financial Officer Tom Cowhey

Health services drives CVS through strong third quarter

Growing Health Insurer Adds New Features, Programs and Expands into Gila County Banner|Aetna, a joint venture health plan owned by Banner Health and Aetna, a CVS Health company, is offering

Banner|Aetna Now Offering Enhanced ACA Insurance Plans to More Arizonans

A strong performance from the health services division of CVS on top of cost-cutting pushed third quarter profits and revenue above expectations

Health services division drives CVS through strong third quarter

CVS Health Corp's (NYSE: CVS) Q3 sales increased 10.6% Y/Y to $89.76 billion, beating the consensus of $88.25 billion, driven by growth across all segments. Adjusted EPS was $2.21, up from $2.17 a year ago and beating the consensus of $2.13.

CVS Health's Health Services And Pharmacy Benefit Management Business Show Strength In Q3, But Lowers Annual GAAP EPS Outlook

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. AstraZeneca to invest $245 million in Cellectis to boost gene therapy prospects AstraZeneca said on Wednesday it would invest $245 million in French biotechnology company Cellectis in a deal aimed at ...

Reuters Health News Summary

CVS Health Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday as strength in its drugstores and pharmacy benefit management business offset higher-than-expected medical costs at its insurance unit.

CVS profit beats estimates on strong performance of pharmacy segment

Dubbed Pharmageddon, the walkouts follow similar actions last month by CVS pharmacists in Kansas City, Missouri, who stayed home from work in protest over unsafe working conditions. That led to the temporary closure of about 10 pharmacies in the Kansas City area, some of them in Target Corp. retail stores, CVS said at the time.

CVS, Walgreens pharmacists plan to walk out over work conditions

More than 2,000 U.S. pharmacists plan to participate in a nationwide walkout this week, according to organizers.

Walgreens, CVS pharmacists walking out over work conditions

This week marks an additional round of walkouts at stores across the country as pharmacy employees ask for higher pay and improved working conditions.

Prescriptions Potentially Delayed as CVS and Walgreens Workers Go On Strike

The pharmacist who organized the Walgreens walkout agrees previously telling FOX Business that, “in an industry where a missed decimal point, a missed number or a letter could mean life or death for a patient, it really becomes a dangerous situation when you’re understaffed and overworked.”

‘Pharmageddon’ is coming: Thousands of pharmacists plot next walkout over work conditions

Get the most recent info and news about CVS Health on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

CVS Health Corporation provides health services in the United States. The company's Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. It serves employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates. Its Pharmacy Services segment offers pharmacy benefit management solutions, including plan design and administration, formulary management, retail pharmacy network management, mail order pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and infusion, clinical, and disease and medical spend management services. It serves employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, health plans, prescription drug plans, Medicaid managed care plans, plans offered on public health insurance and private health insurance exchanges, other sponsors of health benefit plans, and individuals. This segment operates retail specialty pharmacy stores; and specialty mail-order, mail-order dispensing, and compounding pharmacies, as well as branches for infusion and enteral nutrition services. The company's Retail/LTC segment sells prescription and over-the-counter drugs, consumer health and beauty products, and personal care products; and provides health care services through its MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics. This segment also distributes prescription drugs; and provides related pharmacy consulting and other ancillary services to care facilities and other care settings. As of December 31, 2021, it operated approximately 9,900 retail locations and 1,200 MinuteClinic locations, as well as online retail pharmacy websites, LTC pharmacies, and onsite pharmacies. The company was formerly known as CVS Caremark Corporation and changed its name to CVS Health Corporation in September 2014. CVS Health Corporation was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

CVS Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred significant changes in the way businesses to operate. Particularly, it the growth of e-commerce, including in the pharmaceutical space. As consumer needs and preferences have evolved, e-commerce has become crucial to healthcare delivery. In this post, I will discuss some of the key tech trends in pharmaceutical e-commerce and the development of online pharmacies. has accelerated Online Pharmacy Market Pharmaceutical e-commerce offers a simple, effective, and transparent way to purchase prescription drugs in both B2B and B2C settings, which makes it an especially attractive, fast-growing market. No wonder the world’s largest e-commerce corporations have doubled down on their online pharmacy investments, followed closely by big pharmaceutical companies that are going digital. Here’s a closer look at this global trend. the global e-pharmacy market size is expected to reach US$ 351.9 billion by the end of 2033. It is anticipated to create lucrative growth opportunities over the forecast period by registering a CAGR of 14.3% from 2023 to 2033. According to Future Market Insights Take , an online pharmacy service offered by the e-commerce giant Amazon. It a relatively recent addition to the company’s core platform and aims to make filling prescriptions as easy and convenient as other transactions performed on Amazon. Prime members have access to free two-day delivery of orders and to savings of up to 80% off generic and 40% off branded medications when not paying using insurance. Amazon Pharmacy has become Another major US-based player, , has been in its digital offerings, including its CVS app that allows customers to refill prescriptions, set medication reminders, and access health resources. CVS Health investing heavily Meanwhile in China, , also known as AliHealth, has an online pharmacy platform that offers prescription medications and over-the-counter products. The company also provides telemedicine services and a health management app. Alibaba Health Information Technology launched is a similar project in India. PharmEasy's mobile customers to order medications and other healthcare products, as well as book lab tests and consult with a physician. PharmEasy app allows Harnessing the Cutting-Edge Tech As the above examples suggest, the growth of pharmaceutical e-commerce falls within a wider trend toward the digitization of the healthcare industry. Both pharmacies and healthcare providers technological innovations in areas including telemedicine, AI, blockchain, and the IoT to develop and deliver novel treatments and services. effectively harness Integration of technologies gives rise to a new type of service, an e-pharmacy, which potentially can transform beyond its initial scope of selling medications online. By collaborating with other healthcare providers, such as hospitals and clinics, e-pharmacies can offer patients seamless access to a wide range of healthcare services and serve as a central hub for a comprehensive healthcare platform. This emerging trend has the potential to transform the way we think about healthcare, by providing patients with a convenient and holistic approach to managing their health. Artificial Intelligence The biggest advantage of AI-driven healthcare is personalisation. E-commerce companies are to develop personalised treatment plans, product recommendations, email marketing, and promotions. AI is also being used to with chatbots and virtual assistants that can answer customer queries and provide customer support. using AI improve the customer experience When it comes to treatment plans, AI-assisted pharmacists can use data from a patient's medical history, genetics, and lifestyle to manage both acute and chronic conditions. This can help optimise medication therapy and reduce the risk of adverse events. The patient experience can be further enhanced with AI-enabled chatbots and virtual assistants that can respond to customer queries and provide support. Furthermore, AI can be used to help patients manage their prescribed treatment by sending out alerts that remind them to take medications or refill prescriptions, as well as warnings about potential drug interactions or side effects. Telemedicine Many online pharmacies—including Amazon, , , and CVS, among others—already provide telemedicine consultations. Telemedicine is the practice of using telecommunication and information technologies to provide remote clinical services. This technology can help online pharmacies offer virtual consultations and remote monitoring to patients, increasing access to medical care. Hims Sesame The Internet of Things IoT devices can monitor patient health and transmit data to healthcare providers, allowing for more personalised treatment plans. With regard to pharmacies, IoT devices can be used to monitor the temperature and humidity levels of pharmaceutical products during shipping and storage. Blockchain In the pharmaceutical industry, Blockchain technology can be utilised to improve supply chain transparency and prevent counterfeiting. With blockchain, e-commerce companies can track the movement of pharmaceutical products from the manufacturer to the end consumer, ensuring that the products are authentic and have not been tampered with. Each transaction or movement of the product is recorded on the blockchain, creating an immutable trail of the product's journey. If a pharmaceutical product has been compromised during transportation, the blockchain will show an irregularity in its movement, allowing the e-commerce company to investigate and take appropriate action. One example of a company using blockchain in the pharmaceutical industry is Blockpharma, a French startup that is using blockchain and ML to combat medicine counterfeiting. Alibaba Case A more prominent example is the case of Alibaba Health Information Technology, a subsidiary of Chinese online retail giant Alibaba. The company has created a one-stop healthcare platform and provides a comprehensive range of clinical services, including online consultation, medicine delivery, and appointment booking. Aside from conventional medical care, Alibaba Health has also partnered with Traditional Chinese Medicine hospitals so that patients can consult with traditional healthcare practitioners remotely and receive prescribed herbal medicine through Alibaba Health's logistics network. Additionally, Alibaba Health has developed a medication traceability system to ensure the authenticity and safety of the drugs sold on their platform. This system uses blockchain technology to track the entire supply chain of a drug, from production to distribution. Alibaba Health's online pharmacy business has been particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when online consultations and medicine delivery have made it easier for patients to access the healthcare they need while minimising their exposure to the virus. This makes Alibaba Health's e-commerce pharmaceutical business a prime example of the potential for technology to revolutionise healthcare. By investing in advanced tech, Alibaba Health is transforming the way medical care is delivered in China and setting a precedent for the rest of the world. To conclude The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of e-commerce, particularly in the pharmaceutical space, as consumer needs and preferences have evolved.  The growth of pharmaceutical e-commerce falls within a wider trend toward the digitization of the healthcare industry, which integrates technologies such as telemedicine, AI, blockchain, and the IoT to develop and deliver novel treatments and services. These technologies can help personalise treatment plans, improve the customer experience, increase access to medical care, monitor patient health and transmit data, improve supply chain transparency, and prevent counterfeiting. The case of Alibaba Health Information Technology demonstrates how a one-stop healthcare platform can provide a comprehensive range of clinical services, including online consultation, medicine delivery, and appointment booking.

Tech Trends Driving E-Pharmacy

Welcome! Happy to see you in the fifth part of my Vuejs Amsterdam Conference 2022 summary series, in which I share a summary of all the talks with you. You can read my JSWorld Conference 2022 Summary series (in four parts) , where I summarized all the first day's talks. You can also find the previous Talks of the Vue Amsterdam conference 2022 in my blog. here (Recurring) Introduction After two and a half years, JSWorld and Vue Amsterdam Conference were back in Theater Amsterdam between 1 and 3 June, and I had the chance to attend this conference for the first time. I learned many things, met many wonderful people, spoke with great developers, and had a great time. On the first day the JSWorld Conference was held, and on the second and third days, the Vue Amsterdam. The conference was full of information with great speakers, each of whom taught me something valuable. They all wanted to share their knowledge and information with other developers. So I thought it would be great if I could continue to share it and help others use it. At first, I tried to share a few notes or slides, but I felt it was not good enough, at least not as good as what the speaker shared with me. So I decided to re-watch each speech, dive deeper into them, search, take notes and combine them with their slides and even their exact words in their speech and then share it with you so that what I share with you is at least at the same level as what I learned from them. A Very Important Point and I have only tried to learn them so that I can turn them into these articles. Even This means if you learn something new, it is because of their efforts. (So if you see some misinformation blame them, not me, right? xD) Everything you read during these few articles is the result of the effort and time of the speaker itself, many of the sentences written in these articles are exactly what they said or what they wrote in Slides. Last but not least, I may not dig into every technical detail or live codings in some of the speeches. But if you are interested and need more information, let me know and I’ll try to write a more detailed article separately. Also, don’t forget to check out their Twitter/Linkedin. you can find the program of the conference. Here Reusable Widgets That Work! - Head of Accessibility Training and Sr Manager of Accessibility Engineering at CVS Health Maria Lamardo Vue.js is an amazing framework that allows you to quickly build reusable components. We can leverage this to build accessible reusable widgets with the help of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Application). Using ARIA roles and attributes, we can improve the accessibility of certain elements by providing additional semantics. In this talk, we will go over how to follow the specifications and build accessible and reusable tabs, accordions, toggle buttons, and modal dialogs that work for everyone! Modal All the things that you need to know about ARIA are well documented in and it is recommended to read, but here is an abstracted version of it. W3C Modals Design Considerations It must have a button that closes the dialog. The content outside of the dialog should be obscured with visual styling like a grey background. Make sure you prevent users from interacting with content outside of the dialog. Modals Opening Focus Interaction When a dialog opens, focus can be set on either the first focusable element, or a static element at the top of the dialog to make content easier to read and ensure that all the content remains in view, or the most frequently used element if interactions are limited to providing information or continue processing. You don’t wanna set focus to something that is going to be destructive for the user, for example, let’s imagine you have an interaction where you open a modal to delete your account. You don’t want to set the first focus on “Yes, delete my account”. Modals Closing Focus Interaction When a dialog closes, the focus is set on the element that invoked the dialog, or when it doesn’t make sense you can set the focus on a different element, like an element that provides logical workflow if invoking element no longer exists, or on the next element if there is a subsequent step in the workflow following dialog task completion, especially if immediately reopening dialog is very unlikely. Modals Keyboard Interaction Tab Moves focus to next tabbable element in modalLooping around to first element Shift + Tab Moves focus to previous tabbable element in modalLooping around to last element Escape Closes the dialog Modals Technical Considerations Dialog container should have: Role of dialog set to true. aria-modal or referring to dialog title, this is going to help assistive technologies figure out what the naming of this element will be. aria-label aria-labelledby Optionally you can set to any description. aria-describedby All elements required to operate the dialog should be descendants of the element that has a dialog role. <div 
	role="dialog" 
	aria-modal="true"
	aria-labelledby="title"
	aria-describedby="description"
>
	<h2 id="title">Title of the dialog</h2>

	<p id="description">Information provided by the dialog.</p>

	<button aria-label="close">×</button>
</div> On the mac, you can Activate Voice Over which is the default mac screen reader by clicking Command + F5, and then you can go through your page and test it. Also in chrome Dev-Tools, there is an accessibility tab that has some cool accessibility information. With that, you can open and check it out, and is the code. this example here Toggle Buttons If you want the full information you can find it on the website. W3C Buttons A is a widget that enables users to trigger an action or event, such as submitting a form, opening a dialog, canceling an action, or performing a delete operation. button In addition to the ordinary button widget, WAI-ARIA supports 2 other types of buttons: Toggle buttons Menu buttons Toggle Buttons Design Considerations A two-state button that can be either off (not pressed) or on (pressed). To tell assistive technologies that a button is a toggle button, specify a value for the attribute . aria-pressed The label on a toggle mustn't change when its state changes; if the label changes in the design, there is no need for the aria-pressed attribute. Toggle Buttons Focus Handling If activating the button does not dismiss the current context, then focus remains on the button after activation. If activating the button opens or closes a dialog, then follow the dialog pattern. If the button action indicates a context change, you can move focus to the starting point for that action If the button is activated with a shortcut key, then focus usually remains in the context from which the shortcut key was activated Toggle Buttons Keyboard Interaction Enter Activates the button Space Activates the button Toggle Buttons Technical Considerations The Toggle button must have the role of . button Make sure that the button has an accessible name. You can set to any description. aria-describedby You can add set to true if action is unavailable. aria-disabled The toggle button has an state. aria-pressed <button aria-pressed="false">
  Mute
</button> Here is a good that you can check out and is the code. example here Accordions is the complete documentation. Let’s take a look at its main points. Here Accordions Design Considerations Vertically stacked set of interactive headings that each contain a title, content snippet, or thumbnail representing a section of content Accordion Header: Label for or thumbnail representing a section of content that also serves as a control for showing, and in some implementations, hiding the section of content. Accordion Panel: Section of content associated with an accordion header. Accordions Keyboard Interaction Enter or Space Expands associated collapsed panel, optionally collapses other opened panelCollapses associated expanded panel; if the implementation allows. Tab Moves focus to the next focusable element Shift + Tab Moves focus to the previous focusable element Down Arrow (Optional) Moves focus from the accordion header to the next accordion header Optionally loops back to the first accordion header. Up Arrow (Optional) Moves focus from accordion header to the previous accordion header Optionally loops back to last accordion header Home (Optional) Moves focus from an accordion header to the first accordion header End (Optional) Moves focus from an accordion header to the last accordion header Accordions Technical Considerations Make sure that Each accordion header button has: wrapped in a heading set to the ID of the corresponding accordion panel content aria-controls set to true if corresponding panel content is visible aria-expanded set to true if the collapsing accordion is not permitted aria-disabled Each panel content has and to the corresponding header button (Optional) role region aria-labelledby Avoid using the region role in circumstances that create too many landmark region Accordions Code Example <h3>
   <button
     aria-expanded="true"
     class="Accordion-trigger"
     aria-controls="sect1"
     id="accordion1id"
	 >
		Accordion 1
   </button>
 </h3> <div
   id="sect1"
   role="region"
   aria-labelledby="accordion1id"
   class="Accordion-panel"
>
	Content Placeholder
</div> Here is a good and its . example code Tabs You can see Tabs’ full documentation on . W3C Tabs Design Considerations Tabs are a set of layered sections of content, known as tab panels, that display one panel of content at a time. A set of tab elements contained in a element Tab List: tablist An element in the tab list that serves as a label for one of the tab panels and can be activated to display that panel Tab: The element that contains the content associated with a tab Tab panel: It is recommended that tabs activate automatically when they receive focus as long as their associated tab panels are displayed without noticeable latency. Tabs Keyboard Interaction Tab Places focus on the active tab element when user moves into the tab list Left Arrow (Horizontal tabs) Up Arrow (Vertical tabs) Moves focus to the previous tab; looping to the last tabOptionally, activates the newly focused tab Right Arrow (Horizontal tabs) Down Arrow (Vertical tabs) Moves focus to the next tab; looping to the first tabOptionally, activates the newly focused tab Space or Enter Activates the tab if it was not activated automatically on focus Shift + F10 When focus is on a tab that has an associated popup menu, opens the menu Tabs Optional Keyboard Interaction Home (optional) Moves focus to the first tabOptionally, activates the newly focused tab End(optional) Moves focus to the last tabOptionally, activates the newly focused tab Delete(optional) If deletion is allowed, deletes (closes) the current tab element and its associated tab panel, sets focus on the tab following the tab that was closed, and optionally activates the newly focused tab Tabs Technical Considerations Element containing a set of tabs must have or . Role of Tablist: aria-labelledby aria-label The element that serves as a tab must have paired to the associated tabpanel, the active tab should have the state aria-selected set to true; all other tabs are set to false. Role of Tab: aria-controls And it should have the property aria-haspopup set to either menu or true if a tab element has a pop-up menu. Element containing content panel for a tab should have aria-labelledby paired to associated tab, and set aria-orientation to vertical or horizontal (default). Role of Tabpanel: Tabs Code Example <div role="tablist" aria-label="Tabs Example">
  <button
    role="tab"
    aria-selected="true"
    aria-controls="tab1-content"
    id="tab1"
  >Tab 1 </button>

  <button
    role="tab"
    aria-selected="false"
    aria-controls="tab2-content"
    id="tab2"
    tabindex="-1"
  >Tab 2</button>
</div> <div 
  tabindex="0" 
  role="tabpanel"  
  aria-labelledby="tab1"
  id="tab1-content">
  <p>Content 1</p>
</div>

<div
  tabindex="0"
  role="tabpanel"
  aria-labelledby="tab2"
  id="tab2-content">
  <p>Content 2</p>
</div> Here is a good and its . example code Resources ARIA Authoring Practices Guide Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 You can find a complete Vue code example with different components here: https://github.com/mlama007/Widgets End of the Talk fifth I hope you enjoyed this part and it can be as valuable to you as it was to me. Over the next few days, I’ll share the rest of the talks with you. Stay tuned… Also published . here

Vue Amsterdam 2022: Part V - Reusable Widgets That Work!

Vue Amsterdam 2022: Parte V - ¡Widgets reutilizables que funcionan!

Vue Amsterdam 2022 : Partie V - Widgets réutilisables qui fonctionnent !

Vue एम्स्टर्डम 2022: भाग V - पुन: प्रयोज्य विजेट जो काम करते हैं!

Vue アムステルダム 2022: パート V - 機能する再利用可能なウィジェット!

Vue Amsterdam 2022: Parte V - Widgets reutilizáveis que funcionam!

Vue Amsterdam 2022: Phần V - Các vật dụng có thể tái sử dụng hoạt động!

Vue Amsterdam 2022：第五部分 - 可重复使用的小部件！

These are the 100+ Companies Hiring Data Scientists Now

List of 50 Billion Dollar Companies (and their Key Leaders) Who are Using Blockchain Technology Introducing Blockchain 50 With assistance from industry consultants and other experts, ’ team of reporters and editors identified more than 100 big companies actively exploring blockchain through industry consortiums and other proprietary projects. This new list features 50 — with minimum revenues or valuations of $1 billion, and U.S. operations — that are currently leading the way in adapting decentralized ledgers to their operating needs. Forbes Allianz SE - Germany Hyperledger Fabric, Corda Robert Crozier, head of Allianz’s Global Blockchain Centre of Competence Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Amazon - Seattle Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum (later in 2019) Rahul Pathak, general manager of Amazon Managed Blockchain at AWS Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Anheuser-Busch InBev - Leuven, Belgium Ethereum, Corda Tassilo Festetics, VP of global solutions Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Ant Financial, Hangzhou- China : Ant Blockchain : Geoff Jiang, VP of Ant Financial Blockchain Platforms Key leader BBVA-Bilbao, Spain : Hyperledger Fabric, Corda, public Ethereum : Carlos Kuchkovsky, CTO, new digital business Blockchain platforms Key leader Bitfury- Amsterdam : Exonum, Bitcoin : Valery Vavilov, CEO and cofounder Blockchain platforms Key leadership BNP Paribas- Paris : Corda, Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum : Jacques Levet, head of transaction banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa Blockchain platforms Key leader BP PLC- London : Ethereum, Cardano, Quorum : Julian Gray, technology director, Digital Innovation Organization Blockchain platforms Key leader Broadridge- New York City : Hyperledger Fabric, DAML, Quorum : Michael Tae, head of strategy Blockchain platforms Key leader Bumble Bee Foods- San Diego : Multichain : Tony Costa, CIO Blockchain platform Key leader Cargill- Wayzata, Minnesota : Hyperledger Sawtooth, Hyperledger Grid : Keith Narr, VP, Cargill Digital Labs Blockchain platforms Key leader Ciox Health- Alpharetta, Ga : Ethereum : Florian Quarre, chief digital officer Blockchain platform Key leader Citigroup- New York City Ethereum Puneet Singhvi, managing director Blockchain platform: Key leader: Coinbase- San Francisco Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Lumen Brian Armstrong, CEO; his Coinbase holdings make him a billionaire Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Comcast- Philadelphia Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Quorum Gil Beyda, managing director, Comcast Ventures Blockchain platforms: Key leader: CVS Health- Woonsocket, RI IBM Blockchain, Hyperledger Indy, Hyperledger Sawtooth Claus Torp Jensen, CTO of both CVS and Aetna Blockchain platforms: Key leader: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation- Jersey City Axcore Rob Palatnick, chief technology architect Blockchain platform: Key leader: Facebook- Menlo Park, CA Unknown David Marcus, blockchain lead Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Fidelity- Boston Bitcoin, Ethereum Tom Jessop, president, Fidelity Digital Assets Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Foxconn- Taipei, Taiwan Ethereum Jack Lee, founding managing partner of venture arm HCM Capital Blockchain platform: Key leader: Golden State Foods- Irvine, CA IBM Blockchain Bob Wolpert, chief strategy and innovation officer Blockchain platform: Key Executives: Google- Mountain View, CA Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Zcash, Dogecoin, Dash Allen Day, science advocate Blockchain platforms: Key leader: HPE- San Jose, CA Corda, Ethereum, Quorum, Sia, Hyperledger Fabric Raphael Davison, worldwide director of blockchain Blockchain platforms: Key leader: HTC- Taoyuan, Taiwan Bitcoin, Ethereum Phil Chen, decentralized chief officer Blockchain platforms: Key leader: IBM- Amsterdam Corda, Quorum, Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Indy Mariana Gomez de la Villa, program director of distributed ledger technology Blockchain platforms: Key leader: ING- Amsterdam Corda, Quorum, Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Indy Mariana Gomez de la Villa, program director of distributed ledger technology Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Intel- Santa Clara, CA Corda, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth Michael Reed, director, blockchain program Blockchain platforms: Key leader: JPMorgan Chase- New York City Quorum Christine Moy, blockchain lead Blockchain platform: Key leader: Maersk- Copenhagen IBM Blockchain, Corda Michael J. White, head of TradeLens Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Mastercard- Purchase, NY Its own platform, built from scratch. Ken Moore, EVP and head of Mastercard Labs Blockchain platform: Key leader: MetLife- New York City InsureChain built on Ethereum Zia Zaman, CIO of MetLife Asia Blockchain platform: Key leader: Microsoft- Redmond, WA Ethereum, Parity, Quorum, Corda, Hyperledger Fabric Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Nasdaq- New York City Symbiont, Corda, Hyperledger Fabric Johan Toll, head of digital assets, market technology Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Nestle- Vevey, Switzerland IBM Blockchain Benjamin Dubois, manager of digital transformation Blockchain platform: Key leader: Northern Trust- Chicago Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum Justin Chapman, head of market advocacy and research Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Oracle- Redwood Shores, CA Oracle Blockchain Platform Frank Xiong, group vice president, Blockchain Development Platform Blockchain platform: Key leader: Overstock- Midvale, UT Bitcoin, Ethereum, RVN, Florin Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock Blockchain platforms: Key leader: PNC- Pittsburgh Hyperledger Fabric, DAML, Corda, Ripple J. Christopher Ward, EVP and head of Treasury product management Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Ripple- San Francisco XRP Ledger Brad Garlinghouse, CEO Blockchain platform: Key leader: Samsung- Seoul Nexledger, Ethereum Jeanie Hong, SVP and head of Blockchain Center Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Santander- Madrid RippleNet, Hyperledger Fabric María de la Concepción de Monteverde, director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence Blockchain platforms: Key leader: SAP SE- Walldorf, Germany Hyperledger Fabric, MultiChain, Quorum Raimund Gross, chief innovation strategist, Blockchain Blockchain platform: Key leader: Seagate Technology- Cupertino, CA Hyperledger Fabric Manuel Offenberg, managing technologist and data security research lead Blockchain platform: Key leader: Siemens- Munich Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Corda Bernd Rosauer, head of research, Technology Field IT Platforms Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Signature Bank- New York City A private, Ethereum-based blockchain Frank Santora, senior vice president and director of digital asset solutions Blockchain platform: Key leader: State Farm- Bloomington, IL Hyperledger Fabric, Corda, Quorum Mike Fields, innovation executive at State Farm RED Labs Blockchain platforms: Key leader: UBS- Zurich Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, Quorum, Corda Sam Chadwick, head of blockchain Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Visa- San Francisco Hyperledger Fabric . Kevin Phalen, global head of business solutions Blockchain platform: Key leader: VMware- Palo Alto, CA Project Concord, a new blockchain, which supports multiple frameworks such as Ethereum Mike DiPetrillo, senior director, Blockchain Blockchain platforms: Key leader: Walmart- Bentonville, AR Hyperledger Fabric Karl Bedwell, senior director, Global Business Services & Technology Blockchain platform: Key leader:

List of Leading Billion Dollar Companies using Blockchain

Dr. Daniel Freeman at Oxford VR came up with , a worthy-of-its-name cognitive therapy platform. It uses a mix of technologies — with VR at its core — to treat agoraphobic avoidance in patients with psychosis. GameChange The platform puts a patient in lifelike simulations, be it visiting a cafe, a shop, or a doctor’s office, while a therapist walks the patient through the program to let them rethink their defense behaviors. Test results prove that compared to patients who receive usual care alone, those enrolled in immersive therapy have significantly improved their condition. Having assistance like this is invaluable in scaling and increasing the quality of mental care and healthcare in general. So, if you have your mind on taking a leap into the healthcare metaverse or consider turning to a , keep on reading! metaverse development company Below, we describe what immersive technologies — and a mix of them, which the metaverse essentially is — can do for the industry and highlight the challenges that could halt wider adoption of the metaverse in healthcare. Medical metaverse: let’s clear up the definition first The concept of the metaverse has been around for decades. Though it’s Facebook’s turning into Meta that took the topic to the headlines. And now healthcare leaders are taking notice as well. So, let’s see what the metaverse means in the context of digital health. Today’s healthcare tech is mostly dominated by that give users an opportunity to interact with digital content, for instance, manage ERP records or exchange medical images. medical software solutions What pairing up the metaverse and healthcare is about to do is to change the very nature of people/content relationships, rather than simply interact with it. making users experience content The end goal of the healthcare metaverse vendors is to eventually merge the digital and the physical worlds into a collective virtual open space for all kinds of activities to take place — from surgery planning to next-gen to virtual therapy sessions. telemedicine consultations If you wonder how that will be realized, it’s not that complicated. To step into the metaverse, a user will only need a virtual reality (VR) headset, augmented reality (AR) glasses, an inexpensive add-on that turns a smartphone into an extended reality (XR) gadget, or any other XR device. The applications of the metaverse in healthcare The metaverse and healthcare are not a common pairing just yet, but the industry experts agree on its promising value-generating potential. At ITRex, we don’t believe in the digital-only future of healthcare. Still, we do see some aspects of it flourishing in virtual settings. Here’s a rundown of the essential ones. Improving healthcare training and education Leading medical schools have already amplified healthcare training by tapping into AI, VR, and AR development. Bringing the metaverse into healthcare training could help medical schools take a step further and switch to stimulation training. Students, for example, could join virtual settings to watch complex surgeries demonstrated in 3D or even practice conducting one themselves on a digital twin of a human body. Healthcare professionals, too, may use the metaverse to exchange experience (for instance, demonstrate a new diagnosis or treatment method) in digital conference rooms, no matter where they are in the world. On the healthcare education frontier, several startups embracing immersive technologies are quite noticeable. One of them is , a digital medical library featuring immersive training content. Surgical training platforms, like and , are getting in the spotlight, too. These platforms help clinicians practice and automate responses to emergency situations through VR-enabled interactive experiences. Giblib Osso VR Health Scholars Another aspect of how the metaverse improves healthcare training is by allowing healthcare employees, as well as family caregivers, to better understand the experiences of their patients or loved ones. , for example, exploits immersive technologies to help users understand, among other things, what hearing and vision loss may feel like, discover how social isolation associated with certain conditions might impact a patient, or learn to spot and differentiate the symptoms of dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Embodied Labs Enhanced medical diagnosis and therapy Beyond education, metaverse technologies can assist healthcare professionals as they plan and complete diagnosis and treatment. Back in 2020, for example, neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital the institution’s first operation using an augmented reality headset by Augmedics, a surgical assistance pioneer. The surgeon used a see-through eye display that projected the images of a patient’s anatomy to fuse six vertebrae in a patient’s spine in order to cure persistent back pain. So, the solution basically gave the surgeon the needed X-ray vision. performed Medical metaverse environments can be used for surgical planning as well. , for example, allows surgeons to better do preoperative planning by converting patients’ CT scans into 3D reconstructions accessible through headsets. So, surgeons may view, manipulate, and isolate relevant anatomical areas before performing the surgery. InVisionOS Medical metaverse tools could also be used as an amplification to prescribed treatments. This way, assistive therapy solutions, like EaseVR, are getting attention. is a prescription-based solution that uses CBT and other behavioral therapy methods to assist patients with chronic back pain. EaseVR The solution consists of a VR headset and a controller and relies, among other techniques, on deep relaxation, attention-shifting, and interoceptive awareness to address the physiological symptoms of pain. Test results report that at the end of the assisted treatment, 66% of EaseVRx participants reported experiencing less pain, compared to 41% of control participants who received usual care alone. When it comes to , metaverse environments can help extend access to therapy. Along with GameChange we referred to earlier in the article, there are several prominent startups rising on the metaverse and mental health scene. , for example, helps children with autism spectrum disorder practice behavioral skills by placing them in different social contexts. And helps treat neuro-visual impairments, like amblyopia, in children by generating specially modified digital scenes. bettering the population’s mental health Floreo Luminopia Effective patient engagement Due to its immersive, gamified nature, the healthcare metaverse can become a useful means of . High-quality immersive content and gamification features could help clinicians explain complex concepts, walk patients through procedures they’re about to undergo or make sure patients take the prescribed medications. boosting patient engagement Digital twins take a step further in keeping the population informed and engaged. Digital twin solutions, like the one from , for example, combine a patient's vitals, CT scans, medical history records, and genetic test results to create a digital simulation of a patient’s anatomy and physiology, as well as tap into insights about their health. Q Bio So, patients could see all of their health data visualized beautifully on a virtual dashboard and share it with clinicians, nutritionists, and researchers for individual care plans. Next-gen telemedicine Since the beginning of the pandemic, the provisioning of healthcare as a remote service has peaked. The tendency is expected to carry on in the metaverse. But with the engaging, immersive experiences the healthcare metaverse could offer, it would open a new range of opportunities for both patients and healthcare providers. Compared to videoconferencing that is in use today, the healthcare metaverse could convey a far greater feeling of being present, which could help patients feel more at ease with the medical staff. Clinicians, in turn, could get a more thorough picture of a patient's health condition. Although the telemedicine market is still predominantly video-based, a number of metaverse startups have already entered the scene. One of them is ThirdEye. The company offers to access live video and audio communication with remote physicians — all in real time. By using the AR solution, first responders can interface directly with a see-what-I-see platform and live stream emergency situations to offsite clinicians. AR glasses for first responders High-touch brand interactions The metaverse could add a human touch and personalization to healthcare and pharma brand campaigns. Stepping in the metaverse, healthcare and pharma brands can host events for those who can’t attend in person or reach out to new audiences through immersive advertising. Despite the sector’s long-held reputation of digital timidity, healthcare and pharma are ready to move forward, experts estimate. GCI Health EVP and US Head of Digital and Innovation states: Kristin Mengel Ryan “Healthcare organizations are ready to commit, even if they lack clarity around budgeting for metaverse initiatives. Pharma has done a good job recruiting digital talent, and in the last two years they’ve radically accelerated adoption of digital.” While the market is considering opportunities, some pioneers have already ventured into the metaverse. For example, , a top healthcare advertising agency, has recently presented a metaverse primer for internal and external audiences that drew a record number of visitors. Area 23 Other big industry players are keeping up as well. Back in 2021, Pfizer hosted an event, where Grand Theft Auto players could get vaccinated in roleplay as part of the company’s campaign. CVS, too, is attempting to trademark pharmacy, health clinics, and retail goods in the metaverse, and is offering virtual wellness and nutrition coaching. Metaverse in healthcare: the challenges that lie ahead Like all new technologies, the metaverse comes with its hurdles. Gaining wider use, the metaverse could cause healthcare inequities associated with device ownership, digital literacy, and internet accessibility. Moreover, virtual entities like digital twins raise questions regarding healthcare data ownership and privacy. At ITRex, we see the following challenges halting a wider adoption of the metaverse in healthcare: : The industry has to think over the aspects of data ownership and privacy and develop for protecting sensitive patient information Data privacy and security new mechanisms and regulations : To realize the full potential of the metaverse, healthcare organizations would need to invest in high-tech hardware, like headsets, gloves, and other needed wearables. So, initially, the technology is likely to be limited to those who can afford it. Also, the cost of the metaverse solutions infrastructure is expected to be quite high as it requires high-end connectivity, especially when it comes to such use cases as surgical assistance High upfront costs : The essential component of the current healthcare paradigm, interoperability is yet to be addressed when it comes to the healthcare metaverse. Unless the entire industry adjusts the current data and communication standards, the adoption of the metaverse is likely to be slowed down Interoperability : It’s only natural that patients may feel skeptical about receiving treatment online, so they would have to be educated on the specifics, opportunities, and limitations of the healthcare metaverse settings A lack of trust Metaverse and healthcare: another gimmick or a viable alternative to traditional patient care technologies Healthcare metaverse technologies are still nascent and unlikely to take over the market for another few years. Yet industry experts believe healthcare organizations may start to “dip their toes in the water”. According to Emma Chiu, Global Director at Wunderman Thomson Intelligence, healthcare organizations considering metaverse tech must remember just how important technology is to most people. The company’s recent report revealed that 93% of respondents believe technology is the future, 81% stated that a brand’s digital presence is as important as a physical one, and 76% noted that their everyday lives depend on technology. “Into the Metaverse” Technology also makes people feel better, the report found, with 88% of Gen Z survey participants and 85% of millennials saying they use tech to unwind. Ms. Chiu also points out that there’s a clear link between technology and wellness with 55% of respondents indicating that technology makes them physically healthier and 56% stating that tech improves their mental health. Metaverse healthcare applications are also expected to improve in the coming years, bringing about a positive change — be it scaling access to therapeutic environments, breaking down barriers for seniors and people with disabilities, or making it easier for people to participate in research. Still, although people are indeed interested in digital services, the cumbersome digital experience would rather turn them off, . Concerns over the metaverse’s privacy, security, and trust remain, too, amplified by the difficulties of integrating new tools into day-to-day clinical workflows. according to Gartner So, if you don’t want to miss out on the new opportunities the metaverse and healthcare duo could drive but you’re still unsure about the impact of the novel technology, it’s only natural to take small steps. Bring in a touch of the metaverse experience into the areas that are not directly connected to the clinical workflows. Alec Pollak, SVP for group omnichannel strategy at Area 23 advises: “The opportunity to advertise in a game, for example, represents a nice first step and one that doesn’t require a big commitment.” If you have unanswered questions regarding the metaverse and healthcare combo or are ready to take the first step into the metaverse, — we’ll help! contact our experts Also published . here

The Metaverse and Healthcare: Opportunities, Challenges, and Tips for Tech Pioneers

*Note: This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Tribune by 's Head of Marketing Aaron Bours Hyro Before we can dive into the current state of hospitals and clinics across the U.S., we must first understand how the pandemic has wholly upended the healthcare market. $8.5 trillion When confronted with the following statistics, it’s impossible to overstate the impact COVID-19 has had on the main channels of revenue for healthcare organizations: elective procedures, ongoing medical care, and patient volume. Hospital visitation volumes dropped by between March 1st and March 29th, compared with pre-COVID-19 volumes. ( ) 32%-60% TransUnion The number of outpatient visits to practices has dropped by since April. ( ) 60% The Riverdale Press Emergency room visits in the U.S. fell by more than in April. ( ) 40% CDC The average number of weekly ER visits was between March 29th and April 25th, a decline from the visits seen during the same period last year. ( ) 1.2 million 42% 2.1 million Becker’s Hospital Review NYU Langone Hospital’s patient admissions between March 1st and May 9th dropped this year compared to 2019. They were down this year compared to 2018. ( ) 31.9% 43% Healthcare Dive These figures paint a sobering picture and reflect the indirect, often overlooked repercussions this pandemic is having on healthcare organizations and the patients they serve. In a conducted by TransUnion Healthcare in April, about one in four patients surveyed ( ) said they had an elective surgery, appointment, or procedure delayed or canceled due to COVID-19. survey 27% Of the patients who had an elective procedure deferred, nearly indicated they will only reschedule once they no longer believe there is a high risk of COVID-19 infection or once guidelines advise it is safe. 50% Mandatory or self-imposed, these deferments of treatment have been a source of discomfort for some and, sadly, of lethal outcomes to others. Take heart disease, for example. A suggests that the postponement or cancelation of heart disease procedures has led to irregular spikes in mortality. In the five hardest-hit states (Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Massachusetts), there were more deaths from heart problems than would have been typical in March, April, and May — an increase of roughly over historical averages. comprehensive analysis by the Washington Post 8,300 27% Source: Washington Post Alongside the evident toll on human life, the economic hit on the healthcare sector is almost hard to grasp. In April, the American Hospital Association estimated that hospitals were . In a , Dr. Bob Watcher, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco, admitted that he expects that UCSF’s hospitals will lose million this year alone. According to Nathan Kaufman, a strategic advisor to hospitals, emergency room visits have plummeted. Kaufman notes that hospitals had their for operating margins in April, adding that “indirectly, these emergency room visits impact about of the non-COVID-19 revenue of a hospital.” bleeding more than $50 billion per month candid interview with CNBC $600-$700 “worst month ever” 40% The Road to Recovery As the initial shock begins to wane, and the pandemic transforms from a cataclysmic event into a constant reality, patients are trickling back into hospitals. , screening tests for breast, colon, and cervical cancer, which plunged by early in the pandemic, were running just below normal as of mid-June. A found that visits to physicians’ offices, which declined from mid-March to mid-April, are now running below pre-pandemic levels. Chris Mast, Vice President of Clinical Informatics at Epic, estimates that hospital volume based on revenue is back to . According to Epic 80–94% 20–30% report by the Commonwealth Fund 60% 20–30% 80–90% This is all, of course, fantastic news for patients and practitioners alike, but the hard-learned lessons of the last few months are still fresh-in-mind, and any return to service must be executed with surgical attention to safety and best practices to avoid a costly relapse. To that end, some of the country’s most prestigious healthcare associations recently released their road maps for a return to routine care. A by the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, and the American Hospital Association, in April, charted the steps to resume elective surgery, while AAMC released its own set of in late August. joint statement critical recommendations In both documents, one of the most crucial steps outlined for any restart plan is an intensive, laser-focused screening process of employees, patients, and visitors, with AAMC even going as far as urging all organizations to ‘screen almost everyone, a lot.’ Using UCLA Health as a case study, they’ve asked Chief Medical and Quality Officer Dr. Robert Cherry to share his medical center’s scrupulous screening procedure: “UCLA Health’s screening process includes posting staff at each entrance to ask everyone entering the hospital about possible symptoms and take their temperature before allowing them in. Hospital staff can start their own screening process before they come to work by tapping into a smartphone app to answer questions about their health conditions. Those who might have coronavirus symptoms are steered to a call center for further assessment and determination of next steps.” Although the process described by Dr. Cherry may seem complex, expensive, or unfeasible, several leading tech companies have recently rolled out solutions and strategies that are slated to deliver and simplify screening and clearing on a mass scale. A COVID-Free Passport In mid-October, during the prominent virtual healthcare convention , major players in digital healthcare doubled down on their fight against COVID-19. In one session that followed the other, Mayo Clinic and IBM Watson Health unveiled their solutions for safely returning people to public environments, especially employees to the workplace, both built on thorough screening and clearing processes. HLTH 2020 In his keynote address, Dr. John Halamka, President of , broke down the response to the pandemic into five consecutive stages: isolation, testing and contact tracing, pre-vaccine return to life, post-vaccine return to life, and lastly, the new normal. To that end, Mayo Clinic announced its new alliance with (SHS) to develop software and workflows designed to support these stages by, for one example, providing the connecting tissue between an employee or student’s negative test result and a designated secured app that employers and universities can trust and track. Mayo Clinic Platform Safe Health Systems introduced its latest product, the IBM Digital Health Pass, a built-for-smartphones “digital health wallet” containing a person’s health status. A QR code or result from a morning COVID-19 test, would be scanned at the entrance of any venue to ensure real-time screening. As per General Manager of Watson Health, Paul Roma, the digital health pass will be intuitive and easy to use, following four simple steps: IBM Watson Health 1. downloading and enrolling to the IBM digital app, 2. when health data becomes available, users can scan a QR code to add the information to the digital wallet, 3. users can share their health status, 4. verification through Blockchain technologies to confirm authenticity and validity of the user’s account and info. The emphasis here is on security – there is fear surrounding these types of solutions that sensitive health information will inspire privacy concerns, or worse, breach. IBM maintains that security is paramount to their passport, and that people can share their health data while keeping the root source anonymous via an encrypted digital wallet built on blockchain. Roma pitched a heartening scenario in which baseball fans could get back to their favorite stadiums with the widespread adoption of screening, but noted that travel and transportation will require heightened levels of strictness when it comes to passing certain wellness tests. Back in June, another juggernaut in healthcare innovation, CVS Health, debuted its own workplace reopening product for U.S. businesses and universities with an emphasis on testing. Digital tools are included that allow for easy scheduling of tests, distribution of the results, and analytics capabilities. While CVS does not provide contact tracing, it does offer that option via third-party vendors. The features different testing options for students and employees based on their varying types of worksites and risk of exposure. Their testing sites (with over 1400 drive-thru locations) can support 15-minute turn around, leading to faster entry times for a wide array of venues. CVS will be consumers of their own product, as they plan to roll this out to their own roughly 300,000 employees. Return Ready™ program Joining these big names is small conversational AI startup . Drawing from their experience creating complimentary COVID-19 virtual assistants for some of the foremost healthcare organizations in the country, such as Mercy Health and Montefiore Medical Center, the company revealed its AI-powered screening solution in late August. Taking a more enterprise-specific approach, Hyro’s solution proactively reaches out via SMS using preconfigured triggers from healthcare providers, and fields inbound screening requests through a web-based chat and voice assistant. While the process is handled end-to-end by conversational AI, health providers can use a dashboard to manage and monitor organizational activity for better visibility. If a department is starting to experience a spike in COVID-related issues, administrators can send alerts out quickly and stymie the flow of traffic to that hospital wing, for example. One added feature that’s a bit unique to Hyro is their Conversational Intelligence Platform, which will also reveal what patients, staff and visitors of hospitals are asking beyond the scope of screening and COVID-19. Hyro Healthcare organizations use a 24/7 real-time dashboard to monitor COVID-19 screening. A One-Two Punch High tech screening solutions alone cannot be viewed as magic workarounds to this relentless and sophisticated virus. Instead, they serve as invaluable ammunition in the battle to bring back a sense of normalcy to our everyday lives. Social distancing, masks, and good hygiene practices are just as necessary as they were when the pandemic first broke out, but, finally, we may just have the tools in place to prevent mass-scale lockdowns. Until the majority of the population is vaccinated, the “hammer and the dance” continues, but these screening innovations will be vital in ensuring that the dance outweighs the hammer. Visit my blog to learn more about the innovations at the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.

New Weapon in the Fight Against COVID-19: Digital Health Passports

The problems in the mental health space are clear from the statistics we see and the unfortunate passings of famous figures and our personal loved ones. As an investor at Pascal Capital and a team lead at Hack Mental Health, I often ask what the necessary drivers for the much-needed changes are. Thankfully, talking with entrepreneurs throughout this year allowed me to become more optimistic about the future and that a paradigm shift is coming. Here are some new shifts that I have been seeing and the novel solutions mental health startups are bringing to lead that change. #1) Mental health needs a standardized protocol provided for physical treatment. Mental health patients struggle with getting the personalized service they need as the psychiatrist only has a short monthly (or in most cases, every 2–3 months) hourly sessions to know and understand your condition. While this may work in the physiological model, where we have advanced diagnostics tools, standardized datasets, and ER for severe conditions, there are none of those support systems in the mental health system. is looking to change this by becoming the ER for severe conditions by capturing digital biomarkers that can monitor for changes in mood and cognition.  If the person is found to have symptoms of being at risk from their interaction with their phone, the app will alert the user and connect them to a mental health professional who can serve the immediate need and be there for the user at all times. Mindstrong This system is critical as there are currently not many apps that can help those with serious mental health illnesses and a lack of a standard for people to know when they need to really seek out for help. They will normally be referred to the hotline, which makes the user miss out on all the benefits a digital service can provide. Mindstrong changes that by reaching out to the user when it detects any negative symptoms so that they can intervene and ensure that the patient can readily get the treatment they need when they need it. #2) Mental health needs the scarcity of mental health professionals to match the economic value that comes from its asymmetric demand. Software engineers normally cost a fortune due to the scarcity of programmers who can add value to a company. Likewise, a lot of other services and goods (i.e. bitcoin/gold) follow the rule that when the demand outstrips the supply, the cost of such goods will be high. However, this model that applies to engineers currently does not apply to mental health professionals. Instead, mental health supporters are normally quite underpaid. For example, the average annual salary of mental health therapists in California is $63k, which is a bit more than half of what an entry-level engineer will get in Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, the psychiatrists cost users $500 for initial visits, making it highly unaffordable to many users. This gap is significant, as there are over . This means that psychiatrists only make up 4% of the mental health professional space, which explains why there’s a 3 month wait time for follow-ups and a high cost for meeting psychiatrists. 577,000 mental health professionals, while there are only 25,250 psychiatrists In order to solve this gap, is connecting therapists and psychiatrists to work together through its app. By having the care coordinator work on the daily care with the clients while the psychiatrist or the nurse practitioner only comes in to provide the necessary medication, the user is able to get the treatment they need while significantly reducing the cost of treatment. Cerebral This also means that the therapists who work with Cerebral can now access more consumers, as they can work with those who need medication and add value to more people, which in turn will lead to a higher economical value for the therapist. The health professionals who have the capacity to prescribe drugs can then focus on quick drug prescriptions so that they can treat more patients. Their traction so far clearly shows that the users have been waiting for a service like this, with tens of thousands of users currently subscribed and seeing the benefits of Cerebral today. More than 75% of Cerebral clients have achieved meaningful reductions in their symptoms in less than 2 months of care and with a brand new raise recently, their expansion to increase the value of therapists will only continue. #3) Mental health startups need governmental  support Governments spend millions for mental health support and research, but the startups normally work independently with private investors. While this model may work for other industries, mental health is different because it is a global pandemic that is slowed by the legacy laws that were made without mental health taken into account. Governmental support is crucial for this reason. If telemedicine regulations were not passed this year, telehealth companies may not have been able to expand their services and provide necessary treatments to those who need it during this difficult time with COVID. However, it’s once again a physical illness pandemic, not the care for mental health that is driving the government officials to work with the health professionals to change the laws. A company that has managed to successfully work with the government to quickly expand its outreach is , the leading anonymous telemental health platform in Thailand that provides counseling services via video calls with mental health professionals. The platform attracted over 72,000 users with over 100 psychiatrists from Thailand now on the platform, which already represents ~10% of the psychiatrists in Thailand. Ooca After starting in 2017, they were recognized by the government by receiving the Government procurement award, NIA in 2018, and in 2019, signed an MOU with the Ministry of Public Health and the Department of Mental health through the Wall of Sharing Project to provide free counseling service for university students around Thailand. Their works with the government continue today, where they are now offering free service to Thais living in Japan, Malaysia, Germany,  Hong Kong, Macau, and the United States through a partnership with Consular Affairs Department. It is thus no surprise that after successful partnerships with the government, the . Medical Council of Thailand has drafted a regulation to show official support for teleconsulting #4) We need hospitals to work with a new system of EMRs The machine learning algorithms can only be as meaningful as the data that we have to train the system. While there are better algorithms that are being developed to work with less data, for critical problems where the room for error can’t be large like diagnosing one’s brain health, the stakes for correct diagnosis gets much higher. This is why is working to help onboard more doctors to use the cloud. As the leading platform that collects consistent comorbidity and comprehensive multifactorial data on every patient that goes through their hospitals in psychiatry, having a consistent data collection process are critical for their success. Trayt As a thought leader in this space, they are taking the active steps of leading a coordinated effort to convince hospitals to make their EMRs compatible with their platform so that clinicians can get the outcome data to make better care decisions. By having Trayt be the standard of how EMRs should be integrated, it could accelerate the number of hospitals that could all connect together to offer the best treatment the patients deserve. #5) We need more healthcare professionals, as the current system will never supply enough supply to meet the overwhelming demand Leveraging apps in the mental health space have traditionally been an upward battle, as apps made in hospitals have shown a significantly low retention rate. Training professionals is a struggle as well, since training to be a licensed psychologist is a lengthy process that doesn’t have an immense financial incentive like that of a software engineer. is looking to reduce the demand for mental health professionals by providing digital cognitive behavioral therapy that leverages content that people can emotionally connect with. They overcame the hurdle that self-care wellness apps provide by bringing top storytellers, filmmakers, producers, and animators of other industries. In doing so, they have managed to reduce anxiety and help users with their sleep. Big Health They even announced a partnership with CVS Health last year to bring in more clients, which currently includes Target, Comcast, and Home Depot. With over 100 companies signed up and casting a net to over 5.5 million people, this fast-growing startup is showing positive signs that they can reduce the heavy demand for mental health professionals. is also looking to reduce the demand by increasing the supply of those who can provide mental health help. By ensuring secure end-to-end encryption on both sides, they protect the privacy of the volunteers who want to use their experience to be a listening ear to those who need help. It’s truly a safe space for those who need it at any time. Cara Unmasked By providing this Cara friends program on top of their therapist program, they are expanding the pool of options that people can utilize to get the help they need. It also helps reduce the financial burden for those who may not necessarily have the means to see a professional, but need someone to talk to. It could also help reduce the stigma, as the Cara friend could be someone near you or even you one day. #6) We need mental health talk to come early so that people grow up knowing about how their mental health is and get regular check-ups Regular health check-ups are mandatory when children grow up, as parents want to take early measures to prevent any serious illnesses from affecting their child as any problems early on could lead to a serious problem in the future. However, there are no efforts to diagnose their child’s mental state, as many assume that their child will be fine. Considering that we are all born with different brains that stem from not only how we are nurtured, but also from how we are born due to our different DNA structure, it is nonsensical that we expect the brains of humans to somehow be one standardized organ across all babies. The startup that recognized this asymmetry and is working towards bringing a change is , a Korean edtech startup that creates powerful content that even treats cognitive delay caused by mental health disorders. Their CEO was a former cognitive therapist who worked with North Korean children who had escaped and had developmental delays as a result of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). DoBrain Working with the academic experts in education, she created a new digital content using animated characters that build upon the curriculum that she created for North Korean children and a diagnostics tool to predict the child’s cognitive state. By bringing the data to their parents and the progress they are making through the interaction the child has with the app, they have impacted 300k children so far and are looking to change the narrative around children’s mental health. These startups are showing signs of encouragement that we may be able to overcome this mental health pandemic, but there’s still a long way to go. As this Nature article states, “ .” only a small fraction of the available mHealth apps had been tested and the body of evidence was of very low quality However, we are seeing an increasing number of quality papers coming out of these projects and the rigor of random controlled trials strengthening and making it to some of the top mental health journals. There are also a growing number of initiatives by these teams to provide help to those suffering from COVID, with Big Health, Ooca, and Intellect all offering a form of free service. We are yet to see what the new normal will be, but the advancements of these projects show that digital therapeutics are being disrupted globally and that the narrative around mental health is slowly changing. With technology opening up new solutions, I am excited to see what the new “normal” in mental health space will be and look forward to working together with founders to push this industry forward.

The Mental Health Industry is Braced to Embrace our "New Normal"

(…with a little help from Izzy, our team’s latest venture…) All of the biggest companies in tech (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and more), are fighting to stake their claim in the multi-trillion dollar healthcare market, with global healthcare spending according to . on track to exceed $10 Trillion USD by 2020 data from the World Health Organization Here are just a few examples from three of the tech giants most active in healthcare — Google, Amazon, and Apple: Google/Alphabet — health-focused subsidiaries and , and investments in companies like , , , , and . Verily Calico Oscar Health One Medical Forward CityBlock Health numerous others Amazon —exclusive brand of ; , ; combined health initiative with JPM and Berkshire Hathaway, . home health products acquisition of PillPack acquisition of Whole Foods led by Dr. Atul Gawande Apple — , partnerships with health systems and in , Apple Watch , , and . AC Wellness Clinics work with Health Gorilla health records initiative partnership with Aetna acquisition of Gliimpse partnership with Zimmer Biomet I personally believe Apple can beat out both Google and Amazon, and dominate the space to amass their next trillion dollars in market value. Why? For one, there are huge data privacy concerns in healthcare — fortunately, Apple CEO Tim Cook s . Second, there are out there in the world, and Apple’s not slowing down, having seen . trongly supports increased protection of consumer data over 1.3 billion Apple devices seven consecutive quarters of accelerating year-over-year revenue growth rates Now imagine if Apple were able to use these one billion-plus devices to connect their users to direct-to-consumer, personalized healthcare services. That could be an source of additional revenue. Apple could then leverage this direct access to consumer healthcare, along with its existing partnerships with private insurers and health systems, to gain further revenues by connecting their users to the full continuum of care. immense Below I’ll explore how Apple can implement this exact strategy through partnership with . We’re a low-cost membership for unlimited, personalized primary care, mental health therapy, and nutrition & wellness coaching, featured in top healthcare publications like and We use A.I. to automate tasks for our care teams and help our patients gain personalized insights into their health, and blockchain to drive immense cost-savings and enable patient data ownership. We launched our service , and have been scaling rapidly since. Izzy Care MedCity News , Healthcare Weekly , Becker’s Hospital Review . across all 50 U.S. states in Q2 of this year I believe that integrating our care model, technology and protocols into Apple products could not only help Apple beat out Google and Amazon and become a dominant player in the healthcare ecosystem, but also finally deliver the high-quality, low-cost, patient-centric care we all want to see in today’s healthcare ecosystem across the globe. Integrating Izzy’s Tech into Apple’s Product Suite iMessage and FaceTime + Izzy Care Teams — Making Healthcare Invisible At the center of Izzy Care is a Direct, Collaborative Care model. What this means is that, for a flat monthly membership fee ($99/mo), our patients have unlimited access to their care teams, consisting of their own personal Family Medicine physician, psychotherapist, and nutrition & wellness coach. By having these different experts on the same team, our care teams can provide the absolute best in personalized, integrated care. With a focus on collaboration and prevention, our care teams can help save dramatically on downstream costs, such as hospitalizations or procedures due to the worsening of a chronic condition. Our members can communicate with their care teams through unlimited, end-to-end encrypted messaging and live video, right from our app. But now imagine if this secure communication was integrated directly into your iPhone, allowing you to connect with your dedicated care team right from iMessage or FaceTime? Your healthcare could blend into the other aspects of your life, and become almost invisible. Communicate with your doctor with the same ease that you text a friend, no separate app needed. And since Izzy Care is a subscription service, you don’t have to worry about individual payments for consulting your care team — whether it’s a video session with your psychotherapist, or chatting with your nutrition & wellness coach about your diet and fitness goals, it’s all included in the flat membership fee. No $20 copays for urgent care, no $200 for 30 minutes with a psychologist or nutritionist. Siri + Izzy — A Match Made in Heaven Izzy is our A.I.-powered virtual assistant (hence our name, Izzy Care). Izzy enables clinicians to focus wholeheartedly on patient care by automating back-office tasks and various aspects of the clinical workflow. Izzy also helps patients get data-driven insights into their health with personalized assessments and reminders. Now, imagine if this functionality were integrated into Siri. What if Siri could give you personalized health insights based on your data, answer some of your health-related queries, and connect you directly to your doctor and care team? Physicians today …what if they were given this time back? What if Siri, in addition to helping you, could also be an assistant to your doctor, automating processes in the background so your doctor can focus on providing you with the best care possible? spend nearly 50% of their time on computer-based tasks Samsung is already integrating healthcare-focused A.I. into their mobile devices through a partnership with U.K. startup Babylon Health. , allowing for A.I.-powered consultations with doctors. Babylon Health’s A.I. is integrated directly into Samsung’s devices Apple iPhone, Watch + IZZY Token Rewards — Driving Cost Savings, Enabling Patient Data Ownership and Monetization You’re likely already working towards your own personal health & wellness goals in some form or fashion — whether that’s trying to get to the gym more, be more active in general, lose a certain amount of weight, or better manage a certain chronic condition. Ultimately, you’re saving health insurers thousands by taking your care into your own hands. What if you too were rewarded financially for the progress that you’re making? Many health insurers now offer point rewards for hitting a certain daily step count goal, which you can redeem for a few dollars off your premiums. But what if you wholly owned these financial rewards, and could spend them however you please? What if you were rewarded for meeting your goals, whatever they are, not just a single standard step count goal that the health insurer arbitrarily chooses to reward? What if these rewards actually correlated with the savings you’re creating for the health insurer, just a few dollars and cents while they keep all the profits? And what if this reward program was guaranteed by code, not by an insurance company’s word? personal not At Izzy Care, our members can opt-in to our wellness rewards program. Our members can earn IZZY tokens (ERC-20 token standard) for meeting their own personal health & wellness goals, which they can use to pay for the cost of their membership at a discounted rate, OR trade on exchanges for other digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), and from there out to USD to spend however they please. By using smart contracts and patient-generated health data (PGHD) from any apps or devices our members choose to connect to (Apple Watch, myFitnessPal, etc.), these rewards are issued automatically and are wholly owned by the patient. We also allow patients to monetize their data through two means: (1) by opting in to securely share their anonymized health data with researchers, pharma and biotech companies, and/or (2) by opting in to share their anonymized data in the same secure fashion with us, so that we can use this data to power our deep learning algorithms, helping us derive precision health insight and support the delivery of precision (personalized) medicine. It’s your data, and data is quickly becoming many organizations’ most valuable asset. You should be financially rewarded for sharing that data. Now imagine if these protocols, these technologies, were integrated directly into the Apple Watch and Apple iPhone. You could automatically earn cryptocurrency for walking or going to the gym while wearing your Apple Watch. Right from the Apple Health App, you could opt-in to share your data with researchers, healthcare companies, and be appropriately financially compensated for that data. You could then view all the cryptocurrency you’ve earned right in your Apple Wallet, and from there, use it however you please. Entering the Health Insurance Fray At Izzy Care, we’re piloting a first-of-its kind insurance product in NYC, aiming for launch in Q4 2019/Q1 2020. This insurance plan has the core Izzy Care membership at its center, included in a single flat fee, along with full coverage for any 3rd party services, such as specialist care, hospitalizations, laboratory testing, or medications. Each member enrolled in this product is assigned an additional care team member, a who can make care recommendations and aid members in arranging any of these necessary third-party services. Care Coordinator We expect our patients enrolled in this plan to see a . This is due to the immense savings we see with our membership’s Direct, Collaborative Care model and the consequent focus on preventive care, incentivizing healthy behaviors, integration of primary care and behavioral health, etc. We also plan to utilize some existing services, to build on-top of our core offering and expand the services we provide directly: total reduction in their overall healthcare costs of up to 50% Our Family Medicine physicians, as part of our members’ care teams, will be given access to a network of specialists (i.e. psychiatrists, neurologists, gastroenterologists) for e-consults through . This will enable the Family Medicine physicians making up our member’s care teams to handle — in virtual collaboration with the specialist — up to 80% of concerns that would normally require a separate referral. Therefore, our patients need not be inconvenienced with having to get set up with yet another clinical team. RubiconMD Our Nutrition & Wellness coaches already work with patients to form personalized diet and exercise plans. We’re enabling members to more easily follow through with these plans and meet their health goals by partially subsidizing fresh-grocery delivery through companies like . Instacart We’re also integrating genome sequencing through companies like into members’ care plans, allowing for even more highly personalized care, and helping implement preventative measures (if their genome shows a predisposition towards heart disease, for example) for at-risk patients. Helix Following this initial launch in NYC, we can more readily partner with traditional insurers, governments (both domestic and international), and/or dedicated healthcare blockchain insurance solutions like our friends at , to replicate/expand this coverage in other markets. We’ll then be able to convert our thousands of existing members outside of the NYC area to insurance plan enrollees. Decent How Apple Breaks into Health Insurance Apple is already partnered with Aetna, offering discounts on the Apple Watch to Aetna members, and numerous health systems, through their health records initiative. So, there’s a huge, easy win here for all parties. Millions of patients could receive access to personalized healthcare through the Apple/Izzy integration. Apple, Izzy, and Apple’s existing partners like Aetna could then offer these millions of patients/users/members a joint low-cost insurance product, much like the plan we’re offering in NYC. Part of this plan could also involve free in-house testing, select procedures, and generic meds at AC Wellness Clinics and even CVS Minute Clinics (assuming the ). proposed Aetna-CVS merger goes through Bringing Things Full Circle The Apple campus is a circle, and this is a terrible pun How could this actually work in practice? Let’s assume Apple & Izzy tech are integrated as we’ve discussed thus far — Siri gaining the capabilities of the Izzy A.I.; secure, encrypted care team messaging integrated into iMessage and FaceTime; IZZY token rewards, data ownership and data monetization capabilities integrated into Apple Watch, Apple Health & Wallet Apps. Let’s bundle the pricing — 3 free months of Izzy Care included with the purchase of iPhone, and a discount coupon for the Apple Watch. And let’s do a revenue-share arrangement between Apple and Izzy, where Apple takes a portion of all fees collected through the membership. There are here in the United States. Let’s shoot to provide care to 10% of these iPhone users in the first two years of this integration/partnership. close to 90 million iPhone users So let’s take 9 million users. At $99/month for the service, that’s split according to the terms of the revenue sharing agreement. Or, Apple could just straight-up acquire us and keep the whole of the revenues from the get-go. $10.7 Billion USD in new annual recurring revenue, Now, let’s connect these patients/users/members to a low-cost, custom insurance plan, bringing together Izzy, Aetna and other Apple healthcare partners, giving members these added benefits: Genomic screening and integration into treatment plan Family Medicine physicians given access to specialist network for e-consults, reducing need for specialist referrals Care Coordination services Coverage for specialist visits, laboratory testing, hospitalizations, discounts on grocery delivery, etc. Free/low-cost in-person physical examinations, on-site testing, generic meds at AC Wellness Clinics and even CVS Minute Clinics (again, assuming the CVS-Aetna merger goes through) Imagine the kind of disruption this could bring to healthcare. Disruption that not only benefits Apple as a company, but also drives down costs and improves outcomes for patients, and better supports the clinicians that are at the forefront of care delivery. Wrapping Up I believe that by partnering with Izzy Care, Apple can outpace Google, Amazon, and grab significant healthcare market share to establish themselves as a dominant player in the industry. Apple, together with Izzy, can lead healthcare with a direct connection to consumers and high consumer trust, reduce costs and deliver better outcomes, and help guide future of healthcare globally. Apple + Izzy. A world changing collaboration. 😉 Do me a favor and share this with Tim Cook . I’d love to hear his thoughts.

CVS HEALTH

cvshealth.com

10K+ employees

Since 1963

COMPANY RANKING

CVS HEALTH

EVERGREEN INDEX #3295

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

CVS Health WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!

CVS HEALTH

cvshealth.com

10K+ employees

Since 1963

COMPANY RANKING

CVS HEALTH

EVERGREEN INDEX #3295

RELATED COMPANIESRANK

STORIES ABOUT CVS HEALTH

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

CVS Health WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!