With Covid-19 delaying routine care, chronic disease startups brace for a slew of complications
Clinicians at health tech startups who treat patients with chronic conditions are raising a looming concern: Will their patients — many of whom have had their routine care disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic — see a relapse in their illnesses or new complications once the crisis subsides?
Chronic conditions are as broad as they are diverse, ranging from diabetes and hypertension to Crohn’s disease and depression. As the pandemic has overwhelmed the health care system, people with chronic illnesses have been forced to postpone much of their care, which can be critical to keeping their most troublesome symptoms at bay. Now, digital health companies focused on the chronically ill are preparing for the ripple effects of those delays — and trying to get ahead of them by doubling down on patient outreach.
