In the full-court press for a piece of the at-home healthcare market, self-testing is among areas of increasing interest for the cost and time efficiencies they represent versus costly labs.
Latest evidence of the legs under the trend is JPMorgan Chase & Co. business unit Morgan Health’s $20 million investment in the LetsGetChecked medical testing platform.
In a Sept. 8 press release, Morgan Health announced its backing for the platform that sells medical-grade testing and screening kits for conditions ranging from cancer to thyroid function and more, as well as virtual care and e-prescribing for at-home use.
“Timely access to clinical testing has a critical role in improving employee health,” Morgan Health CEO Dan Mendelson said. “When patients delay or forgo recommended or routine tests, the consequences can be significant, as we have seen from the uptick in cancer diagnoses and disease progression during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Launched in the second quarter of 2021 after the end of the Haven Healthcare collaborative formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Health is holding to Haven’s mission of driving affordability in employer-sponsored health plans.
Prior to the LetsGetChecked investment, Morgan Health sank $50 million into employer-sponsored coordinated care firm Vera Whole Health while also investing in the Castlight healthcare navigation solution and physician quality measurement firm Embold Health.
In July 2022, it made a $30 million investment in Centivo, a provider of accountable care health plans for self-insured employers.
See also: Morgan Health Invests $30M in Healthcare Plan Provider Centivo
Health Increasingly Starts at Home
Morgan Health is increasing investments in employer-sponsored and at-home health solutions during a transformative time in the industry, as the pandemic revealed rampant cost and time inefficiencies in the system are targeted by more innovators coming at it from different angles.
On Sept. 5, CVS Health outbid Amazon and UnitedHealth and others to acquire Signify Health for $8 billion, giving the pharmacy chain a foothold in the rapidly growing at-home health sector.
In a statement, CVS Health CEO Karen S. Lynch said, “This acquisition will enhance our connection to consumers in the home and enables providers to better address patient needs as we execute our vision to redefine the health care experience. In addition, this combination will strengthen our ability to expand and develop new product offerings in a multi-payor approach.”
See also: Deal! CVS Wins $8B Bid for Signify Health
Omnichannel healthcare is undergoing a major expansion in the wake of the pandemic as that crisis exposed weaknesses in the provision of services in traditional office settings, and with explosive inflation following hard upon casting a spotlight on affordability and payments.
As patients seek more affordable modes of care that are less intrusive, at-home health, self-testing and other digital means have moved to the forefront.
According to the study The ConnectedEconomy™: Omnichannel Healthcare Takes Center Stage, a PYMNTS report with research sponsored by CareCredit, “Forty-six percent of all consumers in the U.S. — a projected 119 million patients — now engage with their healthcare providers using a mix of patient portals, telehealth appointments, apps and old-fashioned in-person visits. Moreover, the number of these so-called omnichannel patients is growing by the month.”
Get the study: The ConnectedEconomy™: Omnichannel Healthcare Takes Center Stage
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