Verily and CVS Health are among the latest big names lending their health and technology expertise to reopening businesses. Both companies have announced new enterprise offerings incorporating COVID-19 testing, symptom checking, clinical support, data analysis and app-based tools for employees.

Verily's approach, called Healthy at Work, incorporates local, onsite and mail testing services into a centralized digital analytics dashboard.

Employees are provided with an app they use to report daily symptoms or disease exposure, and will be sent in-app messages advising them whether or not to come to work. Employers can customize those criteria based on their organization's needs, as well as on population analytics, up-to-date public health guidance and recommendations from Verily's in-house clinical and data science teams.

CVS Health, meanwhile, is taking a bit more of an end-to-end approach by providing its own testing services as part of the deal. Worksites and school campuses using the Return Ready offering may choose to have: on-site rapid-testing services set up and conducted by CVS Health licensed professionals, drive-thru testing available at roughly 1,400 CVS pharmacies or tests processed by a third-party lab.

In addition to the testing capabilities, Return Ready also comes with a similar analytics dashboard and digital tools for use by employees or students. CVS Health will also give customers the option of add-on tools such as thermal scanners or contact-tracing technology, as well as seasonal vaccination services for those who opt for on-site support.

“Organizations can rely on our customizable return to worksite and campus solution, which will evolve and adapt to include the latest COVID-19 testing technology and clinical protocols to meet their specific population health management needs,” Dr. Troyen Brennan, Chief Medical Officer and EVP of CVS Health, said in a statement. “Return Ready is one more way that we’re increasing access to COVID-19 testing options, whether in the local community, at CVS Pharmacy locations or where people work and study.” 

WHY IT MATTERS

Many organizations that either closed down or went remote due to COVID-19 have been working to resume operations. But with more and more evidence of rising case counts, healthcare and technology companies alike see a new business opportunity that's in very high demand across the U.S.

THE LARGER TREND

Both companies have looked to facilitate testing services over the last few months. That effort has largely taken the form of retail pharmacies, for CVS, and public health-partnership programs for Verily (the latter kicking off to somewhat of a rough start).

However, Verily's new Healthy at Work service launch is a bit perplexing, as it comes about a week and a half after Fitbit announced its device- and app-driven Ready for Work solution. The wearables maker was purchased late last year by Verily's sister company Google and would ostensibly be in the final stages of that process, placing the two offerings in direct competition with each other.

The big names aren't alone in targeting this new employee COVID-19 screening market. Zebra Technologies and VitalTech  each unveiled digital health efforts early in the month that focus on employee proximity and contact tracing, and on at-home symptom checking, respectively.

Digital therapeutics company Pear Therapeutics has inked a deal with pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) RemedyOne, allowing the latter to offer and administer benefit coverage for the formers’ prescription-addiction-focused therapies reSET and reSET-O to its customers. 

Both reSET and reSET-O have FDA clearances. In fact, reSET was the first software-only therapeutic to get the designation. reSET focuses on treating individuals with substance use disorder and  reSET-O  was specifically designed to treat individuals with opioid use disorder. In both of the tools, the therapy is delivered by a software that can be accessed on a patient’s smartphone. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Since the inception of digital therapeutics, the question of reimbursement was on the table. While they may need a prescription in many cases, the delivery mechanism is very different from an ingestible pill. The other question that this partnership is addressing concerns distribution models.  

“This marks an important milestone in increasing access to two products that address the biggest healthcare crisis in America before the pandemic – a crisis that has gotten worse because of the pandemic. We commend RemedyOne for supporting patients on their recovery journey as they are also grappling with isolation, social distancing and increased stress brought on by COVID-19,” Dr. Corey McCann, president and CEO of Pear Therapeutics, said in a statement. “This coverage decision also marks an important milestone in increasing access to PDTs by adding them to a standard formulary so that they can be optimally utilized. Our goal is to ensure that the more than 20 million people in the U.S. living with SUD and OUD have access to reSET and reSET-O.”

THE LARGER TREND 

It’s been a rocky road for Pear’s commercialization efforts. Originally Pear teamed up with Sandoz, a division of Novartis, to commercialize reSET and reSET-O. However, in October, news broke that Novartis planned to hand back sole responsibility for the commercialization of the therapeutics back to Pear.

Nevertheless, Pear has continued to be one of the frontrunners in the digital therapeutics space, and is looking to roll out more therapies. In April it took advantage of the FDA loosening up regulations for digital psychiatric-disorders devices during the coronavirus crisis and rolled out its new therapeutic aimed at  treating schizophrenia. It also landed clearance for Somryst, a prescription digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia, which was the first to be evaluated through the FDA's Digital Health Software Precertification Program.