Post-pandemic healthcare: How the industry has changed

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the healthcare industry, forever changing how patients receive care. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Anjalee Khemlani joins the Live show for Yahoo Finance's Healthcare Week, discussing some of the biggest changes within the industry, including the rise of telehealth services, mRNA vaccines, big-box retailer partnerships, and more.

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Video Transcript

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- The health care industry has seen big changes since 2020, when COVID-19 took over the world, while between the rise in telehealth, big box retailer partnerships, and increased competition. We're bringing you all of this and more in Yahoo Finance's health care week.

Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani, who's leading the charge, leading the coverage on this, joins us now in studio. And Anj, certainly a very busy week when we talk about not only the changes that have taken place within this industry over the last couple of years, but also what the future holds. And some of those changes that are on the horizon.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's right. And, of course, as you mentioned, part of it driven by the pandemic, and some of it has actually started before. So when we talk about all of the big things that we've been thinking about, and you covered some of it this morning, with the GLP1s, those weights loss drugs. That's only part of the conversation.

And so one of the things to keep in mind is we saw that transformational change when there weren't day facilities that people could go to during the pandemic. And so we found alternative options. We found telehealth, we found retail health, minute clinics and the like, were really starting to take over, especially when you talk about delivery of vaccines. So all of that has played a role in how we think differently about health care today.

And then you have entrants like Amazon. We know that they have been pursuing that health care realm for years. And now are finally making some breakthroughs. So I did previously speak to the SVP of Amazon health services about their role in disrupting this space. And here's what Neil Lindsay had to say.

NEIL LINDSAY: What are the experiences that need to be improved that we can make a difference in? And what we're good at is connecting the dots. Connecting the dots between people as customers and humans to the products and services they need. You do that in a general sense. And in health care, the need is the same, right. We need to connect the dots.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: So connecting the dots. And that's really what a lot of other companies are taking a look at. How do they become part of the conversation? How do they then connect the dots from the insurance side to the provider side to the medication side and prescription side.

So all of these parts have really stayed within silos for years. And there are companies that are trying to wrap their arms around all of it. I also spoke to Noom, the telehealth digital health company about this GLP1 craze. They've been a little bit slower to start off as well, and they are looking at a really concentrated tactic. And that's something you'll also start to see more when it comes to digital health. Who is rushing in and who's taking a step back and deciding what is a more strategic way of getting into this space? So listen to what Jeff Cook had to say about that.

JEFF COOK: The studies for medication removal, absence behavior change, are quite clear. That you get kind of instant, more or less very quick weight gain on removal. But paired with behavior change, I think that's where the amazing results are.

And so we're super excited to see the Med as basically a way to kick start, to your point. But to continue that momentum with the behavior change. So you could come off it. I think most people do not want to be on a GLP1 for the rest of their lives.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Nor do they tend to be. We know that people do jump off the drug in about a year. So all of this is what we're going to be covering and more this week.

- All right. Very exciting stuff there. Anjalee Khemlani, going to be having a host of conversations, range of topics going to be diving-- dive-- dove into. We're going to cover it all. Right. Anjalee, thanks so much. Appreciate it.