Category: telehealth

Weight loss drugs have gained attention across social media and celebrity circles over the last year, fueling a rise in digital health startups that offer online prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

National telehealth utilization grew by 3.8 percent in December claiming 5.5 percent of medical claim lines compared to 5.3 percent in November, according to Fair Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. 

Virtual care improved treatment for heart failure patients at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, according to a March 6 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

WeightWatchers has agreed to purchase telehealth company Sequence, which digitally prescribes weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, in a $132 million deal.

The American Telemedicine Association is naming CVS Health Chief Medical Officer Sree Chaguturu, MD, as chair-elect of the board of directors.

Great public appetite for weight loss drugs is fueling business for startups like NextMed, which pivoted from COVID-19 testing to online prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, drawing criticism in the process. 

Terren Peizer, CEO of telehealth company Ontrak, has been indicted for insider trading to avoid millions of dollars in losses, according to a March 1 Justice Department news release.

The “doctor-does-it-all” approach doesn’t work for in-person healthcare and isn’t effective for telemedicine either, the American Medical Association says.

Telehealth startup Cerebral is laying off 15 percent of its staff, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 27. 

The Drug Enforcement Agency has proposed new rules for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expires.