TeleRare Health announced its launch to offer virtual care appointments for individuals with rare diseases, focusing on diagnosis, disease assessment and ongoing care. 

The platform connects patients with expert clinicians and offers molecular diagnostics, as well as care coordination and referral services. It also provides information on approved therapies for rare diseases and patient advocacy organizations. 

The Minneapolis-based company aims to shorten diagnosis time. 

"Significant breakthroughs have occurred in the management of rare disease," Dr. Alex Katz, medical geneticist and chief medical officer of TeleRare Health, said in a statement.  

"Yet approved treatments are available for a tiny fraction of these diseases, and access to care remains a problem for too many patients. We'll work closely with rare disease patients to benefit from the available medications, and help all other patients to enroll, as possible, in the best option among the rapidly growing set of clinical trials. For all patients, we'll offer symptom management through convenient video visits, with a methodical focus on detecting potential escalation and avoiding it."

THE LARGER TREND

Approximately 25 to 30 million Americans are affected by a rare disease.

Organizations, such as the EveryLife Foundation advocate for healthcare policies that empower the rare disease community, and some large pharmaceutical companies have begun to include rare disease therapies in their portfolios and many are using the advancement of technology, such as AI, to find treatments for these conditions.