The pandemic has had a huge impact on our health systems. When Covid-19 took hold last year, it brought elective procedures that drive revenue at hospitals and clinical trial enrollment to a screeching halt. News reports over the past 18 months have shown the toll it has taken on physicians, nurses and healthcare staff. But it has also paved the way for wider adoption of virtual care platforms, and other digital health tools to support remote patient monitoring
supporting the wider goal of shifting from fee-for-service to value-based care.
Ryan Johnson
Fredrikson & Byron Shareholders Ryan Johnson and Jeffrey Steinle co-chair the law firm’s Life Sciences Group. Johnson, who is in the firm’s health law group, helps his clients develop and launch innovative business models designed to improve healthcare quality, accessibility, and affordability. He serves as outside general counsel for digital health companies, healthcare providers, and life science companies that are transforming healthcare through innovation and cutting-edge science and technology. He advises investors, senior executives, and corporate boards on the strategic threats and opportunities arising from emerging technologies and new laws and regulations, especially those affecting the healthcare industry.
Steinle, who is in the firm’s corporate and securities group, advises life science
companies executing M&A, financing, joint venture, licensing and commercial
transactions. He also serves as outside general counsel to life science companies. He navigates highly regulated environments and negotiates effective strategic and
commercial relationships to help clients develop, commercialize and sell their products.
Johnson and Steinle offered their insights on the pandemic’s impact on digital health and medtech investment in a recent interview.
To hear more from Ryan Johnson and Jeffrey Steinle, check out their Spotlight Video interview.
“Health systems have lost billions of dollars due to not being able to carry out elective procedures. The virus demonstrated a lack of resilience in the healthcare system with things like the personal protective equipment supply chain and the exhaustion of healthcare workers,” Steinle said. “But if a silver lining can be taken from this healthcare crisis, it’s the rapid adoption and scaling of telemedicine and forms of virtual care as well as a greater focus on health equity.”
Jeff Steinle
Steinle observed that hospitals are more focused on models of care delivery involving virtual care, the reflection of how broad societal shifts we have seen during the pandemic are causing hospitals and state governments to rethink how they handle Covid-19 surges in terms of their system capacity.
Johnson noted that the impact of the pandemic on hospitals has highlighted the vulnerability of fee-for-service models. Value-based care models where the provider’s revenue stream is tied to a patient population also were disrupted by the pandemic.
The suspension of some regulatory requirements for telemedicine-enabled health systems to adapt their services for virtual care is one trend that could have long-term implications for the use of these services for value-based care and …….