How Are Telehealth and Pharma Partnering to Revolutionize Healthcare?

In this Pharmaceutical Executive video interview, Peter Ax, CEO of UpScriptHealth, discusses the future of telehealth and its potential to revolutionize healthcare. He highlights the increasing complexity of cases being handled through telehealth platforms, including specialized treatments and diagnostic testing.

Ax emphasizes the importance of streamlining access to care and reducing administrative burdens for patients and providers. He discusses the role of telehealth in addressing the challenges of prior authorizations and ensuring timely access to medications.

The conversation also touches on the impact of the DEA's recent extensions for telehealth prescribing of controlled substances, which is expected to expand access to various treatments, including sleep aids, weight loss medications, and men's health products.

Furthermore, Ax discusses the potential of AI to enhance telehealth services, from improving patient communication to predicting future healthcare needs. He acknowledges the challenges of navigating a complex regulatory landscape and advocates for a more streamlined and unified approach to telehealth regulations.

What are the key factors driving the increasing number of partnerships between telehealth companies like UpScriptHealth and pharmaceutical and medical device companies? How do these partnerships benefit patients and healthcare providers?

Look, I've made the case many times. Now that we have a broken healthcare system, access has become very difficult. Clinicians are not readily available. Patients often have to wait weeks to get to see a clinician, and if it's a specialist, perhaps even longer. Then once they see the clinician, they may be prescribed a medication that might be under formulary, might be on their coverage, or may not be so understanding patients benefits in advance is a real issue. And I've also mentioned that you know, prior authorizations need to be prepared. They're often not prepared in the brick-and-mortar world, and that leads to a lack of coverage.

In addition, there's some follow up care issues that in the traditional brick and mortar world become more difficult. Clinicians don't have the time for appropriate follow up care. So, we can streamline all of this in our direct to patient model. And so really, in my view, we've created this model that's the future of care. It's better care. It's easier for the patient to access, it's easier for the patient to have it paid for. And again, it takes the friction out of the system. It takes all the pain points out of the system and care. And we're going to continue to expand our therapies and our medications well beyond where we are today.