From establishing a joint venture digital health company with Cleveland Clinic to launching new virtual care products and services, American Well made several moves to advance its telehealth business in 2019.
Here are five things to know about American Well at the start of the new decade.
1. American Well kicked off 2019 with new product launches. In January, the telehealth company unveiled a new hardware product, called American Well 760 Cart, designed to help hospital care teams bring specialists into patients' rooms virtually.
American Well in February then released its first integrated telehealth device since its 2018 merger with Avizia. The device, dubbed American Well 250 Cart, allows providers to initiate a telehealth consult with specialists via the cloud, within their health system or beyond their organization's provider network.
2. In 2019, American Well struck various partnerships to propel its telehealth business. The company in October expanded its collaboration with Cleveland Clinic by forming a joint venture digital health company, dubbed The Clinic.
American Well also launched its telehealth patient application for Epic EHRs and integrated its virtual care platform with Netsmart's EHR to provide telehealth visits for remote addiction therapy. The telehealth provider in June partnered with Cisco to convert TV sets into American Well-powered virtual care stations for elderly patients.
3. American Well in November announced its acquisition of Aligned Telehealth, a behavioral telehealth and telepsychiatry provider for hospitals and health plans. The deal integrated American Well's digital care platform with Aligned Telehealth's network of clinical experts.
4. The telehealth company underwent executive level leadership changes in the latter half of the year, welcoming both W.B. Mitchell and former Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD. Mr. Mitchell joined American Well as its new group vice president of government solutions while Dr. Cosgrove was appointed to the company's board of directors.
5. American Well also compiled insights on the future of telehealth throughout the year. The company released its annual consumer survey, which found that two-thirds of Americans are open to using telehealth instead of an in-person care appointment. American Well also delivered insights on physician telehealth usage, which saw a 340% spike since 2015.