Advancements In Telehealth

Posted by Delorse on May 17th, 2021

Samsung Invests In Genetics-focused Telehealth Company As Coronavirus Rages™

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website. Samsung's Catalyst Fund is betting the future of health care will have something to do with genomics -- especially as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic. The fund, which is overseen by Samsung Strategy Chief Young Sohn, has led an investment into the San Francisco Bay Area-based Genome Medical, the companies said Wednesday. The Series B extension financing raised million to help Genome Medical expand its genomics telehealth push. In total, it has raised million since its founding in 2016. Other investors include the venture arm of hospital Kaiser Permanente, Canaan, Illumina Ventures and Echo Health Ventures. Genome Medical combines telemedicine with genomics, with the aim to provide more personalized care to patients across the country. Genomics involves studying a person's genes, as well as the interaction of those genes with each other and with a person's environment, to determine how they impact a person's likelihood to develop -- and then battle -- conditions like heart disease and cancer. It also explores how a person will respond to certain drugs based on their genes, something called pharmacogenomics. Stay in the know. Get the latest tech stories from CNET News every weekday. It's believed that genomics can create new ways to monitor and treat infectious diseases like COVID-19. At the same time, receiving care digitally takes pressure off of overburdened hospitals and clinicians who are treating people sick with the coronavirus. About 10.5 million people have been infected so far and more than 500,000 people have died. There's no cure or vaccine to prevent COVID-19 yet. Lisa Alderson, CEO and co-founder of Genome Medical, said in an interview before announcing the investment. Is cancer in your DNA? Genome Medical connects patients with genetic experts -- and does it digitally. Patients get guidance over the phone or video chats on how genetic testing works, what tests would be appropriate and what the results actually mean, as well as get help setting up a post-testing care plan. The startup plans to use its new funding to expand its Genome Care Delivery technology platform for cancer, reproductive health and pharmacogenomics screening. About 10% of cancers are inherited, and about one out of every four individuals who undergo reproductive genetic testing are found to be carriers of a genetic condition, Genome Medical said. Overall, about 17% of the US population carries disease-related genetic mutations that can be treated or prevented. Increasingly, health care is tapping into genetic testing to determine treatment plans. Doing so lowers costs and improves patient outcomes. One of the best known examples is testing for a BRCA gene mutation that leads to a higher risk for breast cancer. Many women who test positive, like actress Angelina Jolie, opt to have surgery to prevent cancer from developing later on. The coronavirus has changed a lot about regular life, from grocery shopping to getting haircuts. One of the biggest areas that's been impacted is health care. Even before COVID-19 hit the globe, people had started visiting their doctors digitally. As people how is telehealth used in behavioral health avoid going to hospitals and doctors' offices, that trend has accelerated. Now, we're "visiting" our physicians on video calls and chatting with medical bots to avoid seeing doctors in person. In 2018, 7 million patients used some sort of a telemedicine service in the US, and that number is only expected to rise. Over half of US hospitals use some sort of telemedicine, and it's in every state, with more than 200 telemedicine networks in the US alone. In March, the US Federal Communications Commission earmarked 0 million to help health organizations roll out telehealth technology to combat COVID-19.