Pennsylvania’s move this week to expand its telemedicine program to include more specialties reflects a broader trend of states using this tactic to improve healthcare access in underserved communities.
Some specialized markets have emerged. For entrepreneurs and investors eyeing the telemedicine space, here are six niche spaces to watch.
Radiology. Teleradiology is the largest and most established of the niche markets and it’s also the oldest. It started as an after-hours service, spurred by Nighthawk’s move to locate U.S. radiologists in Europe to cater to practices that need images read during nonwork hours. Virtual Radiologic or vRad dominates the market since it acquired Nighthawk in 2010 with a lot of small and midsized players across the U.S. Most community hospitals simply don’t have the resources to have a radiologist on duty after hours. Pittsburgh-based Foundation Radiology Group, a startup that raised $1 million last month, is beginning to offer centralized batch reading of screening mammography.
