Shift to virtual care not dependent upon payment parity, says TytoCare CEO

TytoCare CEO and cofounder Dedi Gilad

Photo courtesy of TytoCare

No matter what happens with reimbursement and other waivers put in place under the Public Health Emergency, telehealth is here to stay, according to Dedi Gilad, CEO and cofounder of TytoCare.

"The shift to virtual care will not stop," Gilad said 

Should the higher reimbursement for telehealth visits stop at the end of 2023, "it won't affect TytoCare too much," said Gilad, who cofounded the company in 2012. 

More than half, 60%, of TytoCare's current 230 health system and payer clients are in value- and risk-based contracts. About 70% of TytoCare's business is in the United States, and the remaining 30% is mainly in Europe.

While telehealth visits save organizations money by helping to avoid hospital admissions and ER visits, the potential for greater savings is there, Gilad said.

"Virtual care can drive costs down for health providers and payers but telehealth is currently limited in its ability to bring down total cost of care," Gilad said. "Traditional telehealth doesn't fully realize cost savings because the current model does not go far enough to encourage the successful utilization and implementation of virtual care." 

Gilad, a self-proclaimed tech person who formerly worked for Microsoft, said current telehealth by chat or video call offers "one-dimensional point solutions for virtual care." What's needed is the ability to support accurate remote diagnoses, he said.

TytoCare seeks to replicate what's done in a clinic through remote connectivity. The company created a kit to do imaging of patients' throat, ears and eyes, record sounds from the heart with a stethoscope and get vital signs.

"We created a way of being first in the market to do entire physical exams from the comfort of home and share the data for a really complete virtual care session," he said. "The advantages are, first and foremost, to actually treat many more types of patients."

WHY THIS MATTERS

COVID-19 made telehealth the new normal for healthcare when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted flexibilities and waivers for its use under the public health emergency.

The PHE ends on May 11, but telehealth waivers will continue until the end of 2024. The current higher rate of reimbursement, however, is in place only through the end of this year, according to the American Telemedicine Association. During the PHE, CMS reimbursed providers at the non-facility rate, meaning payment parity between an in-person visit and a telehealth visit.

Payment parity is seen as crucial for providers to embrace and continue investments in telehealth.

Gilad sees machine learning and decision support as the future for virtual care. 

In February 2022, TytoCare received CE Mark approval for its lung sounds analyzer to be used in Europe. The company is currently in the process of obtaining Food and Drug Administration clearance for its lung sounds analyzer in the U.S., Gilad said.

THE LARGER TREND

In November, TytoCare announced the Home Smart Clinic, a remote primary care offering for health plans and providers.

The FDA-cleared handheld solution for remote physical examinations and diagnoses fills care gaps left by traditional telehealth, Gilad said.

It offers an average 10% reduction in total cost of care, according to Gilad. It delivers 59% more accurate diagnoses than traditional telehealth and resolves 98% of visits without necessitating an in-person appointment, according to TytoCare.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org