Pandemic generated boom in remote healthcare technology innovation
LONDON: During the Covid-19 pandemic the remote health industry has experienced a boom in growth that is showing no signs of slowing.
Remote healthcare uses technology to monitor or treat patients at home or at work.
It can come as a small piece of equipment such as a rapid antigen test or a heart-rate monitor, but more often it is an app.
But the pace of this quiet growth industry is slowing domestically, forcing the main players to look to overseas expansion, which could leave Kiwis without the benefits of this locally produced technology.
She was a medical doctor researching mental health at the University of Otago when she came up with the idea for workplace wellness app.
Berryman went on to start a commercial app based on her academic research in April 2020.
The app called Chnnl, promotes psychological safety at work by allowing workers to anonymously share how they are feeling, and the app collates and shares the data with employers.
Berryman says Chnnl was a product ready for a situation no one saw coming.
“In the middle of a worldwide pandemic, little did we know that well-being and workplace mental health was going to be such a need. Because we are fully software based we were able to scale up very quickly as large amounts of the workforce began working from home,” Berryman said.
In the two years since the business began staff grew from three people to 20, and the business has expanded to seven countries around the world.
Revenue has grown 30 per cent month-on-month in the two years since inception.
The app boasts customers from large organisations, including the South Australian state government, Auckland University of Technology, and several district health boards.
But in January, fast growth overseas led the business to a “huge shift” in its strategy, turning 90 per cent of its focus to the intenational market.
“In New Zealand we do meetings and webinars to try and convince people of the benefits of digital health apps, whereas overseas we don’t do that at all as they are already looking for solutions.”
Berryman predicts that globally the remote healthcare industry could become a $7 billion industry in the next five years, and if companies want to be a part of it they need to look beyond New Zealand.
Melon is another local health app turning to the global market.
Founded in 2012, Melon is an app that provides a range of remote health programmes for physical and mental health issues prescribed through a GP or public health provider.
Melon chief executive Siobhan Bulfin says the company experienced significant growth during the pandemic with a 420 per cent increase in users in New Zealand largely due to a contract with the Ministry of Health.
But now that contract has ended Bulfin says she is looking to the United States to expand.
Because US healthcare is largely private there is more money and interest in digital innovation which simplifies and reduces the cost of healthcare, she says.
But in New Zealand the main healthcare funder is the government, which can lead to a slow and difficult funding process, she said
New Zealand Health Information Technology spokeswoman Anna Elders says funding is a big issue for local digital health businesses.
“Because funding is such a challenge, overseas economies are beckoning businesses over. It is cheaper, and money is more easily available. Because of that some businesses have just started avoiding New Zealand all together,” Elder says.
New Zealand is behind on digital health on the global stage, she said.
Dr Simon McCallum, member of Victoria University of Wellington’s Digital Health Group says the potential for local digital health businesses is high.
He says the success of the rapid antigen test roll out has raised consumer trust in other remote health products, such as digital health apps.
Health apps could be used to bridge gaps in our health care system while human staff were being trained.
But the rise of digital health apps also raised some ethical issues of data responsibility, he said.
“Universities and government tend to move slowly because they are cautious. Whereas commercial opportunities aren’t held back by the ethics.
“The challenge … is how to marry the private interest of business growth without leaving behind the ethics that should be central to any health product,” McCallum said.
