- Dr. Dent, HealthLynked Founder and CEO, knows more than a little bit about success, considering he took his first startup, NeoGenomics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NEO) from 20 cents per share to around $13 per share with a $1 billion+ market capitalization before making his exit.
- The market experts at WiseGuyReports.com are forecasting the broader EMR/EHR (electronic health record) industry to climb from $70 billion in 2016 to $120 billion in 2023.
- HealthLynked’s patient access hub technology, allows patients access to a secure internet connection while they wait and detailed practice analytics to improve patient engagement and optimize practice performance.
- HealthLynked’s new application (“QwikCheck”) which is patent pending, lets people check-in from their smartphone. Once checked-in, a text alert lets the patient know the doctor is ready to see them and keeps front desk staff from calling out patient’s names which can be a HIPPA violation of patient privacy.
- HealthLynked already has over 500,000 members in what they call their PIN, or Patient Information Network.
- From Q1 2019 to Q2 2019, revenue increased an impressive 160% from $464,990 to $1.21 million.
- An uplist to the Nasdaq Capital Market is a stated goal of HealthLynked and it’s one more milestone for investors to watch for within twelve months.
Despite being more than seven years since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and over five years since electronic medical records (EMR) were mandated for all practitioners, the U.S. healthcare system remains byzantine and disjointed. In fairness, achieving a national standard is not easy, but it is necessary because it saves lives and adds a great deal of efficiency to the overall market.
Plus…how many times does a person have to walk into a healthcare facility and fill out the same medical-care history paperwork over and over again?
Where there are gaps, there are opportunities. Shortcomings in EMRs and a lack of standardization were motivating forces behind Dr. Michael Dent founding HealthLynked Corp. (OTCQB:HLYK) to provide much-needed solutions to the industry and patients.
For investors, Dr. Dent knows more than a little bit about success, considering he took his first startup, NeoGenomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEO) from $0.05 per share to around $13.00 per share with a $1 billion+ market capitalization before making his exit. Today, NeoGenomics remains a globally recognized expert in laboratory diagnostic and clinical trial services valued at $2.3 billion.
Certain key leaders from the NeoGenomics team have joined the board and other important roles at HealthLynked, including Bob Gasparini, former President of NEO.
Even Bigger Market Than NEO
Dr. Dent, with over two decades of experience as a practicing physician, is certainly well attuned to the headache of today’s standard of care when it comes to medical records and the general physician appointment. EMRs have made big strides, but it is nowhere near where it was expected to be with the ease of every patient’s medical history stored safely in the cloud for appropriate access by others at a time of need.
To that point, the industry remains primed for additional growth. RNR Market Research sees the hospital EMR market alone growing at 8.8% annually and from $12 billion in 2018 to $18.3 billion by 2023. The market experts at WiseGuyReports.com are forecasting the broader EMR/EHR (electronic health record) industry to climb from $70 billion in 2016 to $120 billion in 2023.
A Better EMR Mousetrap
HealthLynked technology connects patients doctors and data but it doesn’t create the medical records or provide billing services something that is left to EMR’s. So HealthLynked isn’t a replacement to EMRs, it augments them for the good of all parties involved, with some nuances that provide a database of information for physicians to learn from each other. In other words, it is both patient-facing and physician-facing to improve healthcare through the efficient exchange of medical information via the cloud.
Patients simply upload their medical info (medications, surgeries, etc.) online into the HealthLynked Network for free. If they choose, for only $1 per month patients can upgrade their data storage and access additional savings through their partners program for medical supplies. Participating healthcare providers connect with their patients through the system, including use of the patent-pending PAH (patient access hub) to view patient analytics.
As security is always of utmost importance, HealthLynked has built in several features, including a “view only” mode for granting a user (albeit a family member, healthcare provider, etc.) full edit capabilities to keep any necessary manual changes current. Medical record access is also controlled at the level of each record, and time parameters can be established as an additional level of security.
The mobile application is not only the amalgamation of “all things medical data” of the patient. It serves other important purposes. For starters, it features online scheduling, which is great for patients. It also encourages doctors to stay in communications with patients through marketing tools for patient retention.
In June, HealthLynked added a feature that quite possibly could be one of the most exciting to patients as a means of avoiding the mundane and often maddening check-in process. Available in iOS and Windows formats, the app (called “QwikCheck”) now lets people check-in from their smartphone. Once checked-in, a smartphone alert lets the patient know the doctor is ready to see them.
Sure, that is spectacular in the obvious sense, but it does have a great deal of practicality, as well, because check-in is the number one area of inadvertent violations in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Further, the app keeps track of everything from wait time to updating medical records with respect to doctor visits.
“Our new patient check-in application provides a seamless onboarding of patients into the HealthLynked Network at our In-Network provider locations. The application reduces front office staff time and allows patients to check in efficiently from their smartphones. Patient engagement starts with a simple Wi-Fi connection and selection of the provider they are scheduled to see,” said Dr. Dent in a statement on the integration of the process into the app.
He added that the new feature has received an “exceptional” response.
500,000 and Counting
Sometimes the numbers speak volumes all by themselves. HealthLynked already has over 500,000 members in what they call their PIN, or Patient Information Network. That says patients see the utility of the app.
As for businesses, HealthLynked is working with some of the biggest names in healthcare such as AthenaHealth, which was acquired for $5.7 billion in November 2018 by Veritas Capital, MedOfficeDirect, Availity, Viome and Genetic Testing are a few of the connections to date for the HealthLynked system.
Most recently, global diagnostics testing services behemoth Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) worked with HealthLynked to integrate all of their quest draw centers in the southeast into the HealthLynked Directory so patients could easily identify the nearest sample collection center (and operating hours) from over 700 of Quest facilities in the Southeast U.S.
Selecting the Southeastern U.S. for the initial launch was not an accident; it was a mindful decision because that is where Florida-based HealthLynked has its largest concentration of patient members at this time. “We anticipate expanding this service to the rest of the country within the next few months as we test the adoption with our patient members in this region,” said Dr. Dent.
Once again, the dual functionality of the app is on display for its benefit to businesses and patient members. In this case, the app has paired participating insurance providers with its patient members. This eliminates guesswork and any risk of additional costs for the patient by identifying labs they may use per their insurance coverage.
One of the single biggest challenges doctors face is patient compliance to a medical plan, which frequently includes regular testing. Catering to patients to simplify the process lowers anxiety and helps with compliance.
With the recent addition of Dr. Shawn Miller, a primary care physician practicing in Naples, Florida, practicing for 20 years, to the HLYK Medical Advisory Board, there is strong potential for rapid expansion. Dr. Miller, who has owned and operated urgent care facilities throughout Southwest Florida, practices with Millennium Physicians Group, one of the largest Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the country.
“In the long run, I believe HealthLynked can bring great value to patient care though patient engagement and comparing patient data,” commented Dr. Miller on joining the team.
Lending further credence to the opportunity, the company said it recently added more than 100 new physicians to the network after demonstrating the technology and QwikCheck application to doctors at the Florida Medical Association FMA Conference in Orlando.
Quantifiable Sales Growth
For most investors, the technology can look great and the partners can be awesome, but you better be able to demonstrate the ability to execute; and that means improving financial reports to show everything is resonating positively. That’s exactly what HealthLynked is doing.
In the second quarter ended June 30, 2019, revenue rose 160% to $1.21 million from $464,990 in the first quarter of 2019 and 113% compared to the year prior quarter. Management attributed the stark rise in revenue to the acquisition of Naples Center for Functional Medicine, now a wholly owned subsidiary, and an increase in patient fees at Naples Women’s Center.
Patient appointments, a measure of user uptake, increased 22% quarter-over-quarter and 13% year-over-year to 4,533.
Time of services collections, which helps with cash flow, increased 426% in Q2 2019 to $801,067 from $152,174 in Q2 2018. These collections were ahead 526% from Q1 2019.
As is typical for any young tech company, HealthLynked is still losing money, although the gap is getting smaller. Operating loss in Q2 2019 was $698,191, down from $823,246 in Q1 2019. Compared to the second quarter of 2018, the company’s net loss in the second quarter of 2019 was lower by $230,675 ($879,674 vs $1,110,249) and lower by $181,143 compared to net loss of $1,060,717 in the first quarter of 2019.
“As we optimize our health service subsidiaries, we expect continued revenue growth in the quarters to come, stated Dr. Dent.
The Course Has Been Charted
HealthLynked (OTCQB:HLYK) has an awful lot that speaks for itself. Certainly Dr. Dent’s history in the healthcare space does with the incredible success of NeoGenomics. Now he’s at it again with a playbook that looks like he’s following to perfection.
Little by little, he’s onboarding top names with extensive networks, including Bob Gasparini, a man instrumental in the building of NeoGenomics. Giants in the healthcare space are finding their way to be connected with HealthLynked. Aggregate the technology, the leadership and the growing patient base with the validation of other companies and it’s not a huge surprise why the financials are improving.
The company recently announced a newly redesigned web site with improved customer experience and that better defines the company’s products and services to its various markets.
The site offers three software/hardware elements, Patient Access Hub with encrypted Wi-Fi, QwikCheck, and Practice Analytics, are among HealthLynked’s most popular products and will be the focus of a Fall 2019 sales initiative. The Company is also introducing its “lynked” patient members program for $1.00 per month where users have access to upgraded data storage of 1GB, significant discounts on medical supplies and other services.
A newly added member support area will now feature video tutorials on Hub installation, QwikCheck smartphone check-in procedures, and how to use the Practice Analytics. That section will also offer interactive webinars on various topics and be the home of HealthLynked Presents, a video series featuring prominent physicians discussing issues related to general healthcare issues and specialized medical presentations. The revamped blog center will focus on current medical events and trends in healthcare and healthy living.
What is a surprise is that the company is still trading at $0.14 with a market capitalization of $14.46 million, based upon 103.32 million shares outstanding (69.8 million of which are restricted stock). That seems arguably low considering all the rest of the context in a massive and exciting med-tech industry. HLYK shares traded as high as $.65 in 2018 and appear likely to break that previous high in the near future as sales begin to demonstrate further impressive growth.
Ultimately, this is a company that should uplist to a national exchange based upon its merits going forward, which will help with valuation re-balancing and additional exposure. As it happens, an uplist to the Nasdaq Capital Market is a stated goal of HealthLynked and it’s one more milestone for investors to watch for within the next 12 months.
Disclaimer: We have been compensated $3500 from the company HLYK for 3 days of advertisement services.
