There is no doubt that we are all living history as we face the COVID-19 pandemic. And while every industry has been impacted by this enormous global challenge, there are some, particularly those surrounding healthcare and technology, that are experiencing record surge due to significant need.
Telehealth and virtual care have been brewing in the background for years, but the COVID-19 public health emergency has catapulted these services to one of the hottest areas of healthcare.
Over the course of the last 5+ years I’ve seen a steady groundswell of telehealth activity, including new companies popping up, as well as some health systems initiating partnerships with private companies to tap their innovations in order to improve overall healthcare delivery.
But life has certainly changed, perhaps forever, for these companies the moment COVID-19 entered the picture.
With the country staying at home during the US outbreak of the virus, consumer and provider adoption of telehealth skyrocketed. A recent McKinsey & Company survey revealed that consumer adoption went from 11% in 2019 to 46% of consumers who are now using the technology to replace canceled healthcare visit. The McKinsey survey also found that a whopping 76% of consumers say they are highly to moderately likely to use telehealth in the future.
So, with this evidence, it’s no surprise that telehealth services are poised to take on a much bigger share of the vast healthcare market from here on out. And according to McKinsey, that figure could be upwards of $250 billion, or 20% of all Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial outpatient, office, and home health spend.
This traction is having a major impact on these companies. With shares of public digital health companies, like Kiio and SilverCloud Health growing by double digits during the pandemic to a much closer look and interest from investors into the industry. Exhibit A being Amwell’s recent news about filing for an IPO.
We are proud to be partners with these leading players in telehealth among other digital health services, and we’ve been tracking their every move so that we keep our fingers on the pulse and identify opportunities for our deep network of talent.
As for hiring trends in this hot bed, we see these companies shoring up their technology and tightening their backend organizations. And as a result, those with deep engineering, technical and commercial expertise are in high demand for these telehealth and virtual healthcare services companies.
The big question is what will happen to telehealth in our new “normal”? And then we also have to ask – Will the new(er) industry sustain momentum? Will the COVID-19 related experience pave the way for routine virtual healthcare widely used by patients and providers? What does telehealth mean for other healthcare (mostly elective) services that hospital systems and offices are used to offering patients?
Clearly, there are a lot of factors yet to be determined for the future of this technology, but one thing is for sure, telehealth has arrived.
About the Author:
Michael Leonard has been on the frontlines of the telehealth field, hiring top executives for industry leaders since even before this record growth. He is co-founder/leader of the healthcare practice at Klein Hersh International. The healthcare practice operates at the epicenter of the industry, helping dynamic organizations on the cutting edge of innovation to recruit bold executive leaders. Whether it is healthcare-focused venture capital (VC) or private equity (PE) firms looking to grow the C-suite of their portfolio companies, to transformative healthcare technology and services businesses needing to expand their leadership bench, the Klein Hersh healthcare practice is to the go-to executive search partner.
