Amwell Says Future of Telehealth Will Go Beyond Video Visits

Showing that some telehealth providers understand they must offer more than video visits post-pandemic to stay relevant, Amwell is talking up the modularity of its Converge digital health platform as the core of its future as a health tech player.

During a third-quarter 2022 earnings call with analysts on Monday (Nov. 7), Amwell CEO Ido Shoenberg and CFO Bob Shepardson spoke of progress in migrations to the platform launched in 2021, with marquee clients like CVS Health, LHM Health and MU Health representing the scale and diversity of the platform that Shoenberg said is on the cusp of its 1 millionth visit.

Noting that visits on Converge grew from 9% in Q2 to 16% of total visits in Q3, Shoenberg said “in the past, we had really one giant offering and you either bought it or you didn’t.” With new modules supporting the management of disease states and behavioral health, he shared upbeat news from recent customer-facing conferences where clients including MU Healthcare, LHM Health, and Nemours Children’s Health reported positive results using Converge.

Not addressed during the Q3 earning call is the impending start of its deal with CVS Health Virtual Primary Care, Amwell’s most high-profile client to date, set to roll out in January 2023.

See also: Amwell Announces Pact to Power CVS Virtual Care Offering During Q2 Call

A Digital Fix for Ailing Health Systems

Shoenberg noted that health plans and health systems are under budgetary constraints, more notably on the health system side, which is a headwind for the company.

Pressed by one analyst on this point and how it impacted Q3, Shoenberg said “We are using methods of the past to try to measure the future. Telehealth was synonymously connected to counting the number of visits as a token of progress, and we do that as well. But it’s very important to understand that the adoption of digital delivery enablement is much broader than that. A lot of the utilization we see does not necessarily result in a visit.”

He added, “It is incredibly apparent that digital is no longer just a side road to surrogate urgent care. It is rapidly becoming the main highway for all types of care offered by all types of providers and services. Providers are prioritizing digital care that allows them to offer an experience that improves staff retention, streamlines workflows, improves outcomes, and offers a business model to grow revenue and be more competitive.”

See also: Healthcare Platforms Integrate More Devices, Data as Sector Rushes to Modernize

Shepardson said Amwell ended Q3 with over 98,500 total active providers “representing 23% growth compared to a year ago. As a subset, providers employed by customers active on our network grew 25% versus last year. We anticipate this number will continue to rise as we deploy Converge for our largest customers.”

Total platform visits were 1.4 million in Q3, roughly equivalent to Q3 2021, with scheduled visits representing 70% of visits, which Shepardson called “consistent with the 70% to 75% range we have seen since the beginning of 2021, and up from approximately 30% pre-COVID.”

Q3 revenue at $69.2 million was 11% higher than the comparable quarter of 2021, with subscriptions growing 19% over a year ago to $31.9 million, and up 8% compared to Q2 2022. Shepardson said, “Our long-term path to profitability is grounded in our plan to drive high-margin subscription revenue growth at a rate that is faster than that of our overall business.”