StartX Med Alliance of Remote and Telehealth (SMART) Companies Respond to Massive Shift in Patient Care Delivery During COVID-19 Crisis

Group to Support Providers Through Innovative Digital Health Solutions as Telemed Patients Show Increases up to 175%
During the Pandemic

PALO ALTO, CA - July 28, 2020 — StartX, a non-profit startup community of more than 1600 Stanford faculty and alumni founders, announces the launch of its StartX Med Alliance of Remote and Telehealth (SMART) Initiative and the mobilization of its digital health medical companies to support healthcare providers in their delivery oftelehealth, remote monitoring, remote diagnostics, and virtual care services. The consortium will collaborate on partnerships with healthcare providers and government agencies to help them respond to the massive shifts in patient care delivery caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SMART Initiative is part of the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force and provides a range of innovative solutions that equip frontline providers in their day-to-day care delivery, helping to minimize health risks to providers and patients in this new COVID-19 environment. Examples of innovation include remote patient monitoring of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, software enabling clinics to offer high volume drive-by COVID-19 testing, remote stem cell and blood sampling for point-of-care use, telehealth and virtual care platforms for physician practices and senior care providers, and telemedicine-enabled mobile retinal scanners that allow nurses and medical assistants to detect eye disease rapidly.

The consortium collaborates with healthcare providers serving high-risk and vulnerable patients in U.S. regions that have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. As such, the StartX companies are offering their solutions and support to healthcare providers that receive funding from the Federal Communications Commission COVID-19 Telehealth Program. The consortium is engaging hospitals, senior care providers, community health centers, local health departments, and providers in other settings to support their telehealth, remote monitoring, and remote diagnostics initiatives.

“Digital health has seen a dramatic shift in recent months with the public recognizing its critical role and ease of use during the pandemic,” stated Sentinel Chief Medical Officer, Jorge Sanchez, MD. “Health systems are adopting telemedicine and remote diagnostics for quarantined patients at an incredible rate and seeing the advantages in relieving overstressed physicians. With up to 175% increase in telehealth patients reported in recent months, it is becoming clear that this is the new doctor on call.”

“Seniors and their care teams have been hit extremely hard by COVID-19, especiallyin nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Many providers quickly responded by adopting telehealth and have been able to reduce the risk of disease transmission while ensuring patients receive undisrupted access to treatments and their clinical teams,” stated Kijoon Lee, CEO of Teleon Health. “Virtual care and telehealth have become critical in protecting healthcare workers and enabling seniors to safely access the care they need, whether at home or in care facilities. We’re seeing a major shift in the senior care model that will improve the quality andefficiency of care far beyond this pandemic.”

Current StartX Med Alliance of Remote and Telehealth Companies include:
Aromyx - DawnLight - Eko - Enya - Gauss Surgical - Kangaroo Health - Luma Health - Nanowear - Remedly - Sandstone DX - Sentinel Health - Spect - Spry Health - Synova Life Sciences - Teleon Health - Wellsheet

“The magnitude of the pandemic has taken the world by surprise and we need to look to the startup community where leading-edge innovation happens,” stated Joseph Huang, StartX CEO. “This is especially prevalent in the telehealth and remote diagnostics sectors where advancements were already proven and commercially ready to deploy prior to COVID-19. Founders in our community have been collaborating for the last five months on the full spectrum of COVID-care from telemedicine and coordinated supply chain data to therapeutics, testing, and med devices as part of the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force.”

Founded at the onset of the pandemic, the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force consists of more than 150 Stanford alumni scientists, physicians, professors, and engineers providing solutions for the Prevention, Diagnostics, and Treatment of COVID-19.