Telehealth has been topical in the U.S. for several years now, but the COVID-19 pandemic lent new urgency to the question of Medicare coverage. However, there are a number of related enforcement issues that could dampen adoption and increase the legal risk for both health care professionals and developers of telehealth-related products.

TORONTO – Ontario and British Columbia med-tech companies have received CA$1.4 million (US$1 million) from Ottawa’s Supercluster fund, making a difference they said for patients suffering the long-range effects of COVID-19, chronic disease and undergoing joint replacement surgery.

While telehealth has been gaining traction over the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic really shined a spotlight on this rapidly rising space. In July, Globaldata predicted that the telehealth industry likely would reach $20 billion by 2024, boosted by a loosening of restrictions. Indeed, an Oct. 30 CDC report highlighted a 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March vs. the same period in 2019. The authors added that policy changes could help boost access to care via telehealth during and after the pandemic.

Eargo Inc., a medical device company specializing in hearing aids, reported $18.2 million in third quarter revenue, driven by sales of the company’s Neo Hifi hearing aid system and a decrease in the sales return accrual rate. Revenue was up 135% over the third quarter of 2019.

Drug and medical device manufacturers have several compliance matters to deal with under the False Claims Act (FCA), only one of which is the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). Nonetheless, the AKS might be a good area for members of industry to emphasize, given that it accounted for the vast majority of federal enforcement actions in fiscal year (FY) 2019, according to a new report by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

NEW DELHI – Indian health care technology startups have gained ‘significant momentum’ over the last five years, fueled by a government push towards digitization, the uptake of technological advances and a spurt in health care apps. “The Indian health tech startup landscape has now come of age and includes a robust pipeline of ventures across both ends of the spectrum,” Sathguru director Pushpa Vijayaraghavan told BioWorld.

As hospitals faced a deluge of patients early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many implemented remote solutions to manage individuals at home to keep from being overwhelmed – all at a speed unthinkable in more normal times. That experience promises to accelerate and transform telemedicine long after the threat of COVID-19 recedes, according to a report by Vizient Inc.

Over the last seven months, the pandemic starkly illuminated both the tremendous potential and the significant limitations of telehealth today. Tyto Care Ltd. benefited tremendously from the increase in physician visits using its proprietary all-in-one modular device and examination platform as patients tried to avoid exposure to the novel coronavirus. It also recognized the opportunity to improve the quality of remote interactions with artificial intelligence (AI).

NEW DELHI – India’s digital health market is poised to grow rapidly over the next five years propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two new reports.