Happy hours, trips to the beach, concerts — these are all activities that were begrudgingly but understandably foregone in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Healthcare was not one of those activities.
Routine appointments, emergency consultations and everything in between has remained just as — if not more — necessary during the pandemic as it was previously, except the sudden shift to isolation made care much more difficult to access. Technology, always quick to fill in where there are gaps, made up the difference.
Alex Doyne, vice president of product at Zocdoc, recounts just how rapid and significant the push for a virtual solution was. In February 2020, “less than 1 percent of Zocdoc’s total bookings were for telehealth. By May 2020, that share skyrocketed to between 30 and 40 percent,” he said.
Zocdoc responded by ramping up virtual care resources. Healthtech organization Cityblock Health also recognized the need for mobile rapid response. As a result, they deployed the Community Paramedicine Teams. By renting cars, hiring paramedics, and assuring members that responders would reach them within 90 minutes, Cityblock extended in-person services in a critical and uncertain period. At the same time, the organization transitioned 99 percent of their consultations from in-person to virtual.
Both companies’ immediacy of action represents more than a sound business strategy. Their missions of connecting patients with healthcare providers and extending the healthcare system beyond doctor’s offices relies on rapid evolution.
As medical offices reopen, the future of telehealth is left to be determined. That said, these four local leaders know that innovation is going nowhere.
What changed for your business and industry in 2020, and how much of that was driven by the pandemic and the impacts that had on consumer behavior?
At the outset of the pandemic, the use of telehealth spiked rapidly; doctors quickly pivoted to video calls and virtual diagnoses. To give some perspective on the size and speed of the shift: in February 2020, less than 1 percent of Zocdoc’s total bookings were for telehealth. By May 2020, that share skyrocketed to between 30 and 40 percent.
Before the pandemic, the telehealth experience for most patients was that they were assigned to the provider who was available first. The convenience was great, but it wasn’t so good for patients building a long term relationship with a provider — something we believe is critical to getting high-quality care in the long run.
For most specialties, we’re now solidly in a hybrid world of combined virtual and in-person care. Patients may do an initial telehealth consult with a provider, but then follow up in person, or vice versa. This trend is good for continuity of care, and supports long-term relationships between patients and providers.
After the onset of Covid-19, Zocdoc’s leadership team recognized the pandemic as a call to action.”
How did you adapt your product to address these shifting trends?
After the onset of Covid-19, Zocdoc’s leadership team recognized the pandemic as a call to action. Our CEO wrote a company-wide email in March 2020 that defined the setting as a critical moment requiring urgent action to change our company roadmap. We had to get ahead of the needs of both patients and the healthcare system.
While our in-person bookings declined from 50 to 90 percent depending on the market, by late March 2020, we mobilized our entire workforce to rapidly expand into telehealth.
We worked quickly, launching video visits in April 2020; this allowed patients to safely access care from home and helped providers keep their digital doors open for business. Then, in May 2020, we launched Zocdoc Video Service: a free, HIPAA-compliant video solution that providers can use to facilitate their telehealth visits. Combined, this meant patients could keep accessing care and providers could keep their practices open.
Looking ahead, what lasting effects do you think the pandemic will have on your business and industry? And how do you plan to be part of this next wave of healthtech innovation?
At a high level, we’re seeing that while virtual healthcare appointments will certainly remain part of the mix, patients want the option to decide between in-person and virtual care. And when given this choice, the decision is generally in-person. Therefore, we believe that telehealth is a supplement to in-person care, not a substitute for it.
Often, virtual visits may lead to a specialist referral. The intake process streamlines the experience for both doctors and patients, and is especially useful for patients located in rural or other medically underserved areas.
There is also the potential to significantly improve the speed of access to healthcare. Right now, it takes an average of three weeks for someone to get an appointment for primary care. In contrast, 70 percent of in-person appointments booked on Zocdoc take place within three days. Telehealth is making this waiting period even shorter.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to focus on incorporating telehealth into the healthcare delivery system in a way that gives patients choice and power, and strengthens the patient-provider relationship.
What changed for your business and industry in 2020, and how much of that was driven by the pandemic and the impacts that had on consumer behavior?
In 2020, conversational AI exploded as the pandemic challenged the connection between brands and their customers. In-person interactions were off-limits, and contact centers employing millions went totally offline, making it impossible to get timely answers over the phone.
This inability to connect brought business operations to a halt and stranded customers when they needed help the most. It also opened the door for companies to start deploying conversational AI, which lets humans and automations talk to each other on websites, apps and the messaging channels we use every day with family and friends. Using conversational AI meant brands could provide safer experiences, plus get customers what they needed more efficiently and with higher satisfaction than traditional voice calls or difficult-to-navigate websites.
How did you adapt your product to address these shifting trends?
In early 2021, we turned our AI expertise toward testing, developing BELLA Health to help one of the world’s leading banks run a self-testing program for employees. Today, and the app is being used by more than 25,000 people every time they go into the office.
It works by using conversational AI to guide users through rapid FDA-authorized Covid-19 tests, with the ability to message with live support when needed. The frequent testing facilitated through BELLA Health has identified people who should pause and seek additional testing before entering workplaces, including vaccinated people who may otherwise have assumed it was safe to enter.
To make BELLA Health a success, we also had to adapt our conversational AI to be even more empathetic now that it was being used in health-related situations. After all, giving yourself a Covid-19 test can lead to high stress, especially if you’re worried you’re infected, or worse, receive a positive test result and don’t know what to do next. By providing clear directions, empathetic conversational design, and the ability to seamlessly transition to a human assistant as needed, we were able to create more caring experiences.
In 2020, conversational AI exploded as the pandemic challenged the connection between brands and their customers.”
Looking ahead, what lasting effects do you think the pandemic will have on your business and industry? And how do you plan to be part of this next wave of healthtech innovation?
In the near term, testing will remain critically important for managing both unvaccinated and vaccinated populations going to school, concerts, games, and anywhere we gather in large groups. It will also remain a crucial component of return-to-work and ongoing employee safety for businesses, especially in light of new mandates on vaccination and testing.
More broadly, we see testing and healthcare in general as a major area of opportunity, with conversational AI serving as an educational tool to help people test, learn more about their own health, and get resources they need to stay healthy. The telehealth market is growing at a rate of 25 percent annually. There’s no reason we as healthcare consumers should have to navigate difficult websites or wait on hold for hours to get the information we need about our own physical and mental health.
What changed for your business and industry in 2020, and how much of that was driven by the pandemic and the impacts that had on consumer behavior?
In early 2020, very shortly after the pandemic first began to impact us, we found ourselves approached by several clients in the healthcare space. As the urgency to create products and services that could better support patients, caregivers, and healthcare workers became a top priority, companies in the healthtech space looked to rapidly invest in digital tools. We saw new and meaningful ways to connect doctors and patients in a time of great uncertainty, while also streamlining in-facility workflows to support our frontline workers.
As a product design team, we inserted ourselves in the mindset of a clinician taking care of respiratory-compromised patients.”
How did you adapt your product to address these shifting trends?
We have to put users at the forefront to ensure that what we design and develop has value and will be used again and again. This felt especially true for frontline workers.
As a product design team, we inserted ourselves in the mindset of a clinician taking care of respiratory-compromised patients. Over the last 18 months, we’ve all witnessed daily images and headlines emphasizing overcrowded hospitals and overworked caretakers. With this in mind, we partnered with medical device company, Medtronic, to create a tool that could be seamlessly integrated into pre-existing and complex workflows. Furthermore, we wanted to design something that truly helped these clinicians and doctors do their jobs more efficiently versus creating more friction in an already high-stress, high stakes environment.
Following many iterations, testing frameworks and designs with the actual clinicians who would use the product, and working closely with our client who really understood the unique needs and particularities of working in a hospital environment, we designed and built a mobile data visualization and monitoring platform that gives clinicians and doctors real-time, on-the-go access to critical patient data.
Looking ahead, what lasting effects do you think the pandemic will have on your business and industry? And how do you plan to be part of this next wave of healthtech innovation?
I think many of the effects of the pandemic will be lasting, especially as it relates to human connection. Like with any new trend, technology, or a shift in consumer behavior and patterns, we need constant and ongoing research, ideation, iteration and reflection. This process ensures we continue to create digital experiences that not only adapt to — but actually anticipate — the new ways we work, connect, and live.
We anticipate that healthtech will continue to be a priority for businesses looking to innovate and meet users’ needs in an ever-evolving space that has been front and center throughout the pandemic.
What changed for your business and industry in 2020, and how much of that was driven by the pandemic and the impacts that had on consumer behavior?
Covid-19 dramatically accelerated the use of virtual care modalities across every realm of healthcare, from video chats with primary care providers, to messaging therapists, sending skin photos for dermatology prescriptions, and even engaging in various forms of home-based delivery. Cityblock felt these changes acutely due to our member-base concentration in central Brooklyn, a hard-hit community.
As society rebalances in 2021, and calibrates toward a new normal, we expect to see a significant return to in-person care.”
How did you adapt your product to address these shifting trends?
Covid-19, and the acceleration of these trends, only highlighted the longstanding disparities that low-income or marginalized communities face when it comes to accessing high-quality care.
We quickly put together an 80-person virtual care center with round-the-clock coverage of medical, social and behavioral escalations from our member base. These capabilities spanned across telephone, SMS, web video, Android and iOS. We also transitioned to 99 percent virtual consultations. When some members lacked appropriate smartphone hardware to engage digitally, we sent out tablets and piloted SIM cards for connectivity.
Ultimately, we launched Community Paramedicine Teams, a rapid-response group for in-home care. We hired paramedics, rented cars, and told members that we would be at their doors within 90 minutes if they needed anything. In this way, we were able to help members who had urgent needs, but who otherwise could be kept out of the ER — one of the most dangerous places for them to go.
Looking ahead, what lasting effects do you think the pandemic will have on your business and industry? And how do you plan to be part of this next wave of healthtech innovation?
As society rebalances in 2021, and calibrates toward a new normal, we expect to see a significant return to in-person care. However, we believe the most effective organizations will be positioned to offer hybrid solutions for both virtual and in-person consultations. Particularly when dealing with complex conditions and low-engagement populations, digital is a fantastic new lever and an important piece of reducing unsustainable healthcare cost trends, but not sufficient on its own.
