Chain Drug Review, February 4, 2019

22 Chain Drug Review February 4 2019 CATEGORY INSIGHTS HOME HEALTH Home health care everyone sees a need for NEW YORK Advances in medical science are allowing people to live longer while people of all ages are becoming increasingly aware of and involved in their personal health and wellness And with an aging population and self care on the rise the market for home health care is growing In fact the home care providers industry is among the most rapidly growing of the health care industries in the U S according to IBISWorld Billions of dollars are saved every year through home care as being treated in the home whether through self care or with the aid of a caretaker or provider is drastically more affordable than being treated in a hospital The rising cost of health care is one of the most significant factors contributing to the growth of the market according to Stacey Morano marketing manager at Inverness Medical The continued demand driven growth of the retail pharmacy clinic is testament to the consumer taking control of their health care and health care pricing Morano says The ability to see a health care practitioner on an as needed basis for consultation helps people decide whether or not they need to make that doctors appointment On top of that Morano adds that awareness of home health and home diagnostics is growing as consumers continue to actively seek out home health solutions that empower them to live healthier lives Nick Desai cofounder and chief executive officer of Heal a Los Angeles based company that allows patients to schedule physician house calls via mobile devices believes great health begins with home care and he sees the innovation offered by his company as part of a trend that will continue Convenience and access are the key to Americans engaging in preventive and proactive health care Desai says If people dont have time to see a doctor they dont and so issues go undetected until they are much more serious The importance of the home for care is magnified by the aging of the population Seniors prefer to be at home and the more services that can be coordinated and delivered to the person the better off they are The technologies around remote patient monitoring digital therapeutics nanoscale diagnostic tools and even home delivery of fresh organic healthy food choices are all part of enabling healthy living as a lifestyle and not as a burden Morano also sees a general trend in the home health category that of mobile technology which she says is beginning to integrate with products more seamlessly Product development is being paired with apps to provide supplemental information tracking or support she says Linking diagnostics to a smartphone device that can connect to resources further empowers that consumer to own their wellness Telemedicine though not available everywhere but expanding is also enabling some consumers to better manage chronic conditions with lower cost and faster access to clinicians who can evaluate diagnose and treat remotely Some insurance companies even include this type of consultation as part of their programs Morano notes All of these factors an aging population the prevalence of chronic diseases growing physician acceptance of home care medical advancements and a movement toward cost efficient treatment options from public and private payers have all contributed to growth of this industry and the market for home health goods and services Also factoring into this expanding market is the growing incidence of certain chronic conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers disease and orthopedic diseases And with populations across the globe continuing to age theres no sign this market will slow down anytime soon Some projections have the 60 plus population doubling by 2050 while the 80 and older cohort is expected to grow even faster To deal with this health care costs whether through private or government means are going to have to be kept in check Of course theres no guarantee that will happen and it is more likely health care costs at least in the U S will continue to rise which means that health care services and products for the home will grow in demand as more patients look for less costly alternatives for care and treatment Some estimates have the global home health care market reaching 517 billion by 2025 Grand View Research Inc has the market growing at a compound annual growth rate of 78 from 2014 through 2025 Demand in the home health care market is also rising due to the benefits of improved patient outcomes long term care cost efficiency elimination of unnecessary hospitalization and patient preferred settings Access to information is also helping to fuel the self care trend as the internet has served as an outlet for integrated technology which bridges treatment options Along with escalating health care costs the capital outlay necessary to set up hospitals and health care centers is also increasing and that has lead to more mergers and acquisitions of market players in order to capitalize on opportunities and boost market growth Another sign of consumers taking charge of their health care Morano points to is the continued demand driven growth of the retail pharmacy clinic The ability to see a health care practitioner on an as needed basis for consultation helps people decide whether or not they need to make that doctors appointment she says Specifically to home testing kits one trend Morano sees is in the family planning category and the emergence of combination kits where there are either several types of pregnancy tests or a mix of ovulation and pregnancy being packaged together in one kit We are noting an increase specifically in ovulation forward combination kits in a 10 1 format she says These are appealing to women who are proactively planning a pregnancy and actively trying to conceive gadgets monitors devices mobile technology NEW YORK Home health products released since the beginning of the year are designed for ages that range from infants to the elderly and they highlight the diversity of the products within the market as well as the importance of the growing self care trend Somatix provider of a wearable assisted gesture detection RPM remote patient monitoring platform launched SafeBeing which is designed for passive monitoring of the activities of daily living or ADLs of the elderly such as sleeping drinking walking and medication intake as well as real time alerts that cover falling and wandering By monitoring such activities SafeBeing can accurately detect and instantly alert caregivers of dangers posed to elderly individuals under their care enabling immediate response SafeBeing which is powered by the Somatix real time gesture detection platform requires no changes in the routine of the user and does not necessitate sensors or cameras to be installed in living spaces for monitoring Rather a commercial off the shelf smartwatch or smartband with standard existing sensors accelerometer and gyroscope among others collects all the data needed for analysis SafeBeing works by leveraging machine learning and big data analytics to deliver actionable insights and predictive analytics Using these tools SafeBeing detects variations in hand gestures that are cause for concern and triggers alerts to caregivers or family members By basing its RPM on gestures rather than specialized hardware installation in the users environment Somatixs passive monitoring grants elderly people full independence and the freedom to go about their daily activities uninterrupted The global population of people aged 65 and older is expected to nearly double by 2050 driving a surge in demand for digital health innovation said Eran Ofir chief executive officer of Somatix SafeBeing is designed to facilitate aging in place and provide both users and caregivers with peace of mind It is easy to implement and is fully aligned with the remote patient monitoring regulatory landscape such as reimbursement policies At the other end of the life spectrum the beginning of life is a product to track fever in children VivaLNK a provider of connected health care solutions for wellness patient care and telemedicine teamed up with Reckitt Benckiser to distribute a wearable continuous temperature monitor The products Enfasmart FeverSense and Nurofen Fever Smart are both designed for parents to automatically track temperature changes in their child so they can take immediate action following detection of a fever These products both Food and Drug Administration cleared and CE certified a certification mark that indicates conformity with health safety and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area are electronic skin patches that continuously monitor changes in body temperature over several days as required This isnt the first partnership between VivaLNK and RB Under Nurofen the Fever Smart product had already been launched as a trial in Australia in 2017 Under Enfasmart owned by RB following the acquisition of Mead Johnson Nutrition in 2017 the product is known as FeverSense They initially applied for this trademark in November 2017 which sits alongside their existing brand Emfamil a milk powder brand aimed at nutrition during child development More details about the progress of VivaLNK and 12 other players developing electronic skin patches based on temperature sensors can be found in IDTechExs report Electronic Skin Patches 2018 2028 This report is the most comprehensive assessment of the commercialization of flexible wearable smart skin patches and it includes examples of over 95 skin patch products from 80 companies Temperature sensing skin patches popularly fall into one of two main categories fever monitoring or fertility monitoring Wearable temperature sensors tend to be dedicated devices with functionality related to a temperature metric only while others such as those for general monitoring of health care or wellness metrics or other options such as cardiac skin patches can sometimes contain temperature sensors but are unable to give a meaningful estimate of core body temperature unless they are positioned specifically for this purpose While this sector is still in its infancy compared to markets such as diabetes management and cardiovascular monitoring both of which are generating more than a billion dollars a year in revenue progress from the VivaLNK and RB partnership shows that many exciting opportunities for electronic skin patches are continuing to emerge Convenience and access are key to preventive care