Medical data and technology company HeraMED Limited (ASX:HMD) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Teleperinatal to deploy the HeraCARE mobile maternal care app and the HeraBEAT smart foetal HR monitor, under an initial paid pilot for six months. Assuming a successful pilot, both parties intend to progress to a formal commercial agreement.
Teleperinatal, a maternity telehealth service, provides a maternity benefits programme for employers that is designed to reduce the cost of pregnancy care by giving employees direct, virtual access to Maternal-Fetal Medicine physicians, who will serve as advocates throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period.
The programme represents an employer benefit and is being sold direct-to-employer, with an initial focus on Fortune 500 Companies and a launch scheduled in the first quarter of 2021.
Several contracts have already been secured and expectations are for approximately 500,000 lives to be under management at by the end of 2021, and it is estimated this will include more than 10,000 pregnant women.
Employers will offer access to the Teleperinatal pregnancy service, and in turn, Teleperinatal will deploy a co-branded HeraCARE mobile app and sell the HeraBEAT device. Under the terms of this agreement, Teleperinatal will pay a licence fee for the HeraCARE platform of US$5 per month per active user and will offer its users the HeraBEAT device for an additional US$29 per month fee.
The onset of COVID-19 has presented a unique opportunity to fast-track the adoption of digital health in maternity care. HMD is well-placed to deliver high-quality, prenatal, and postpartum care to improve the safety, efficiency, and cost of maternal healthcare. HMD continues to receive significant interest from prospects from around the world and is well placed to capitalise on these opportunities.
The US market offers significant operational and commercial upside due to the relatively expensive healthcare system. This partnership represents progress in HeraMED’s execution of its US market entry strategy to focus on leveraging existing relationships with healthcare institutions to initially target healthcare providers including hospitals and doctors as well as employers providing medical insurance coverage.