Telehealth platform InTouch Health is teaming up with North Carolina-based Mission Health and Pennsylvania-based Jefferson Health to develop new telehealth platforms aimed at improving patient access and reducing cost. 

"The hospital administrations very much believe that telehealth is a big part of the future and wish to apply the principals of telehealth to many other applications, like substance management and cardiology. They want to take the tech and applications and bring it to other specialties," Joseph M. DeVivo, InTouch Health CEO, told MobiHealthNews. “We have created this joint partnership where we will work to identify clinical use cases and best practice combine with the best tech available to make this happen.”
 
Before the partnership, both Jefferson Health and Mission Health worked with InTouch Health. But the providers have never worked together or shared information with each other. Now the providers and InTouch will work together to share their learnings.

The trio will codevelop products, which InTouch will commercialize. The partners will look at creating virtual care models across 10 different areas including stroke, sepsis, and acute heart failure.

"InTouch Health is thrilled to work with Mission Health and Jefferson Health – two leading healthcare institutions – to further advance the capabilities of telehealth to improve health systems' ability to virtualize the delivery of care,” DeVino, said in a statement. "We look forward to discovering new ways telehealth can help innovate healthcare to drive efficiencies that will improve quality of care and increase both patient and physician satisfaction.”

Once developed, the products will be tested at Mission and Jefferson Health facilities. Mission Health primarily serves rural and suburban residents, where as, Jefferson Health cares for many patients living in urban areas. By testing the products at various locations the team aims to create platforms that are applicable across geographies and markets. 

"Mission Health is a committed and recognized leader in quality and innovation, and we strive to provide the most advanced and efficiently delivered care possible for all of our patients – no matter their location," Dr. Ronald A. Paulus, President and CEO of Mission Health, said in a statement. "In the mostly rural and mountainous counties of western North Carolina, technologies like the InTouch Telehealth Network allow our patients and communities to have the same access to state-of-the-art, highly specialized care as patients in large cities."

InTouch Health, which has a total of $28.2 million in funding, was first founded in 2002. The company has been active in seeking partnerships. In May, it expanded its partnership with Dignity Health, providing services in post-acute and ambulatory facilities. 

Earlier this month InTouch Health acquired TruClinic, an organization that specializes in direct-to-consumer online virtual care. As part of the acquisition, InTouch Health will incorporate TruClinic’s software into its offerings so that patients can initiate and receive a consult with their health system physicians from their home.