Telemedicine and telehealth have become much misused buzzwords for low-cost, no-touch healthcare delivery in the 21st century. The surging number of such companies across the nation — buoyed by the rising demand for remote-care services during the pandemic — promise relatively low-cost “virtual” diagnosis and care prescriptions, without examining or treating the afflicted in the […]
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Telemedicine and telehealth have become much misused buzzwords for low-cost, no-touch healthcare delivery in the 21st century.
The surging number of such companies across the nation — buoyed by the rising demand for remote-care services during the pandemic — promise relatively low-cost “virtual” diagnosis and care prescriptions, without examining or treating the afflicted in the flesh.
But to Stratford-based TapestryHealth, telemedicine is a means, not an end. Unlike the bulk of telehealth providers that rely almost exclusively on virtual interactions with patients, Tapestry increasingly provides face-to-face care to get a broader perspective on its patients’ well-being.
The company offers both primary and urgent care, 24/7 coverage, multiple medical specialties, remote or on-site clinicians and one-button technology on its proprietary platform.
"Technology is too often used to replace human interactions," said Dr. David Chess, CEO and co-founder of TapestryHealth. "We see things very differently. We use technology to bring our clinicians to the patient's bedside to deepen the personal relationships between the physician, the patient and the facility staff. This clinically-respectful approach changes the quality and dignity of peoples' lives.”
Chess’ co-founder and co-principal, former nursing home administrator Mordy Eisenberg, describes the company as a multispecialty medical practice group.
It primarily examines and treats patients in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities and uses telemedicine in many cases to “get into some very remote or otherwise underserved areas or times of day.”
“The words ‘telehealth’ and ‘telemedicine’ have kind of been bandied about,” said Eisenberg, who holds the title of chief growth officer. “We don’t see telemedicine as a service; we see telemedicine as a delivery method.”
Chess and Eisenberg co-founded what was then known as Tapestry Telehealth in Jan. 2018 out of the former’s Stratford home. Chess had previously created a company called TripleCare Inc., which provided telemedicine services for nursing homes before it was acquired in 2018 by Pittsburgh-based Curavi Health Inc.
“That company and every company that followed in this space really focused on an after-hours, urgent-care model, where if you need help you can call them and they can see your patient, but it’s generally a different clinician every time you call — the ‘doc-in-a-box’ model,” Eisenberg explains.
Eisenberg says that during Chess’ latter days at TripleCare he wanted to focus on a primary-care rather than urgent-care model.
“That model allows us to get paid for our visits directly by the insurer, whether it’s Medicare or Medicaid, as opposed to charging the nursing home,” Eisenberg explains. “It’s a very different business model.”
Last June the pair changed the company’s name from Tapestry Telehealth to TapestryHealth to reflect the broader definition of its mission.
“We didn’t want to get pigeonholed as [solely] a telemedicine company,” Eisenberg explains.
Growing footprint
The marketplace has responded to TapestryHealth’s unique business model. In Feb. 2020, the company raised more than $2.5 million in a Series A financing round — according to a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission — attracting capital investors led by New York City-based Sopris Capital to help lubricate its path to profitability. It has also wooed new board members, including Mark Hirschhorn, former CFO and chief operating officer of Teladoc Health, a global telemedicine company with annual revenues in excess of $400 million.
Sopris Capital partner Abinav Sankar says TapestryHealth is unlike anyone else operating in this space, noting its broad product offerings and delivery of customized services around the country — and the fact that it offers both virtual and in-person patient visits.
The company is “getting vitally needed medical care to the people who need it most,” Sankar said.
As of March, Tapestry had done more than 40,000 face-to-face, in-person bedside evaluations and treatments, and “we are adding significantly to that number every month,” says Eisenberg.
The company is eyeing a nationwide footprint and today offers services in 32 states.
“Basically, we've created a whole new service category in the skilled nursing industry,” Eisenberg adds.
Unlike many skilled nursing facility vendors that rely on independent contractors, Tapestry employs all its providers.
“That really helps us [ensure] the quality of what we’re doing,” Eisenberg said. “At this point today we have over 100 employees.”
Though the company is not yet operationally profitable, “We’ve probably quadrupled in size this year, and we hope to do a multiple of that as well [in 2021]. Our goal is to be in 700 skilled nursing facilities two years from now. We’re already servicing about 240 under contract,” Eisenberg said.
“We’re really managing a lot of care there,” he added.
