Amwell (formerly known as American Well), a Boston-based telemedicine company founded in 2006, has raised $59.9 million in equity, according to a Form D the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The news comes as COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, spreads across the nation, largely forcing Americans to stay in their homes. In Massachusetts, schools and restaurants are closed, and public gatherings of more than 25 people are banned. Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area have enacted even more drastic measures: Residents have been ordered to shelter in place until April 7 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises even those who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, like a fever and a dry cough, to stay home and get in touch with their doctor remotely, only leaving their homes to seek medical care if necessary.
It's a perfect time for a telemedicine company to step up.
In an interview with BostInno last month, Amwell CEO and president Roy Schoenberg said that Amwell was "growing very fast" as physicians and hospital groups began to realize the benefits of remote care. (A spokeswoman declined to comment on the new funding in an email to BostInno on Monday.)
"Until a few years ago, you still had to explain to people that [telemedicine] is good health care," Schoenberg said. "Now, everybody's getting creative about how we can use telehealth. There are cancer programs. There are programs for high-risk pregnancy follow-ups. There are opioid management programs, behavioral health programs. Literally everything under the sun that used to happen in physical, brick-and-mortar places is now taking place remotely."
Now, that includes COVID-19 care. Amwell's services are explicitly covered, too: On Sunday, Gov. Charlie Baker mandated that insurers cover medically necessary telehealth services in order to help keep patients with acute illnesses out of the hospital during the coronavirus outbreak.
Amwell has also launched a national COVID-19 telehealth response program. In addition to ongoing communication and training for the thousands of doctors who deliver care on Amwell’s platform, the company established an always-on-call infection control officer, COVID-19-specific workflows for clinical operations and a COVID-19 Readiness Team.
Amwell’s client base includes more than 240 health systems, including 2,000 hospitals and 55 health plan partners with more 36,000 employers, according to a statement.
"This is something that every other industry has already gone and done decades ago—online banking, bill pay, travel," Schoenberg said. "There are a lot of organizations out there that are using this technology as an alternative for people to get health care."
