Q: Can you tell us about your company and the challenges you are solving within the remote monitoring space?

A: Nuvo’s mission is to give every life a better beginning. Nuvo was founded to address the very intimate challenges that parents face throughout the various stages of pregnancy. We believe that both clinicians and parents would benefit from more and better real-time data to improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce worry and stress. INVU provides a remote pregnancy monitoring platform so that physicians can monitor and consult mothers as needed in the comfort of their own environments, no matter where they are.

Q: How does your company differentiate from other remote monitoring vendors?

A: Our FDA-cleared remote pregnancy monitoring and management platform offers clinical grade fetal monitoring that is self-administered in the safety and convenience of one’s home as part of a connected care regime with an OB team. We shift the point-of-care to the expectant mom, which facilitates access to high-quality remote care. 

From a clinical perspective, existing standard methods for data collection have some notable limitations. The tocodynamometer (TOCO), which is the current standard of care, requires patients to travel to the clinic to be plugged into a machine that offers shallow and unreliable data. The gold standard of care, the intrauterine pressure catheter (IUPC), also requires the patient to travel to a clinic to be plugged into an invasive piece of equipment. 

We have a novel method of capturing uterine activity which performs extremely well against the IUPC and is less invasive. We believe that INVU is the first FDA-cleared, prescription-initiated remote pregnancy monitoring and management platform that allows providers to conduct remote fetal non-stress tests. 

In addition to our remote monitoring technology, we are developing an AI-powered big data platform that will enable personalized predictive care pathways and allow us to improve outcomes for all women.

Q: What are some of the biggest changes your company has seen around how health systems are approaching remote monitoring since 2020?

A: 2020 was an inflection point for everyone around the globe, particularly as it relates to healthcare. Clinicians, hospital systems and patients were forced to leverage online activity in every aspect of people’s lives, so patients and hospitals have seen the significant value that remote monitoring and healthcare can deliver. The demand for virtual pregnancy care solutions accelerated during the pandemic and continues to rise because time-pressed millennial moms want to be digitally empowered. We commissioned a survey in partnership with Wakefield Research that shows that 77 percent of new and expectant mothers would prefer to do some of their prenatal visits remotely (as long as their doctor could provide the same level of care). In the past two years, it's become evident the high cost of in-clinic care is unsustainable, while remote monitoring has shown not only clinical efficacy, but also improvements in quality of life for patients and providers.

Q: What does an ideal client look like? How are health systems best organized for success in remote monitoring?

A: An ideal client for Nuvo is a large healthcare organization, self-insured employer or payer that is responsible for a large number of pregnancies. There are a number of pressing needs and challenges that can be addressed by Nuvo, including geographic barriers to care (maternity deserts), health inequities/financial limitations and a shortage of OB-GYNs. Nuvo has seen great traction with organizations that are dealing with these challenges. We are also seeing the virtual care movement continue to shift to specialty care, with an increased demand stemming from the pandemic and desire among busy moms for telehealth options and easier access to care.

Q: What measurable outcomes have you seen from your clients who have prioritized remote monitoring?

A: Nuvo is democratizing access to the highest standard of pregnancy care by addressing the most common barriers to care:

• Concerns about potential exposure to illnesses like COVID-19, cold/flu and others

• Geographic barriers–over 50 percent of U.S. counties lack an OB-GYN

• Financial limitations 

• Competing priorities, like jobs and other children, that make it difficult to find time for in-office visits

The demand for virtual pregnancy care solutions accelerated during the pandemic and only continues to rise.

Q: What major functional enhancements and/or product investments are you making in the near term to keep up with the evolution of remote monitoring?

A: We’re building on the INVU platform to accelerate innovation in pregnancy care. These investments are focused on three primary areas: pregnancy care decision support systems, population health tools, and novel AI models that generate unique insights into pregnancy care delivery.

Q: How is your company partnering with clients as reimbursements and use cases shift?

A: Nuvo has established collaborations with several clinical and technology leaders in the healthcare sector, including Axia Women’s Health, Unified Women’s Healthcare, University of Pennsylvania Medicine, University of Utah, Philips and Babyscripts. We work closely with our partners to ensure our collaborations are driving value in a highly dynamic healthcare environment.

Q: What are the biggest opportunities health systems should be thinking about this year when it comes to remote monitoring?

A: Health systems should be thinking about utilizing remote monitoring in pregnancy care. There are troubling trends in U.S. pregnancy care involving outcomes, access to care and costs:

• Outcomes: The U.S. ranks 52nd in global infant mortality rates, according to the World Factbook 2020

• Access to care: 50 percent of US counties do not have a practicing obstetrician, a rate that is expected to increase with fewer new OB-GYNs each year

• Cost: Pregnancy care is one of only four health conditions that drive over $100 billion in annual healthcare spending, while adoption of remote monitoring in pregnancy care has lagged compared to remote monitoring for other health conditions. 

Remote monitoring has shown the potential to have a positive impact on each of these trends. Health systems that get ahead of this curve put themselves in a strong competitive position.

Q: How do you see remote monitoring evolving in 2022 and beyond?

A: Remote monitoring will continue to grow as clinicians get more comfortable with the technology and see the value it can provide, and as patients increasingly expect healthcare services to meet them where they are. In addition, remote monitoring will begin to unlock new insights into individual and population health by enabling analysis of real world patient data at scale.