Fierce JPM Week: Verily sees big opportunities to help reopen businesses in 2021

Google sister company Verily rapidly expanded the scope of its work in healthcare and research during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its Baseline Platform has supported COVID-19 testing and research efforts with multiple partners this year, having screened and tested nearly 2 million people across 351 testing locations, according to the company.

Leveraging its technology capabilities, Verily sees big opportunities to expand its work with employers through its Healthy at Work program. Launched in June, the program helps businesses and universities reopen safely.

"Employers are relying heavily on digital health to ensure their employees’ health and wellness in the workplace and at home. The lines between work and home are continuing to stay blurred and health technology will continue to play a big role in employee health and safety throughout 2021," said Vivian Lee, M.D., Verily's president of health platforms, during a Fierce JPM Week interview.

WATCH ON DEMAND: Watch this interview and more from Fierce JPM Week

Verily has developed technology around population health, clinical care delivery and chronic disease management through programs like its virtual clinic Onduo. These capabilities, along with its data science expertise, can be valuable for employers and universities as they look to bring employees and students safely back to buildings, according to Lee.

"We’re seeing a lot of uncertainty as we navigate the new normal. Our efforts at Verily as we step up and try to help the nation is also, in turn, really enabling us to double down on our efforts around virtual health and digital health," Lee said.

Healthy at Work combines testing, symptom tracking, data analytics and the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health authorities.

"It's the research side that I find fascinating," Lee said. "Our data scientists have built sophisticated epidemiologic models. We got involved in COVID very early and we had a little more time to build that expertise and experience, so with these epidemiological models, organizations are able to address very practical questions."

For example, she said, "Universities are coming to us and saying, 'We only have 10% of dorm space set aside for COVID positive students, how can we make sure we stay below the threshold and make sure that the dorm doesn’t exceed capacity? How frequently should we test students, who should test more or often or less often?'"

Employers need the same capabilities and data insights, she said.

RELATED: Alphabet's Verily breaks into stop-loss health insurance market backed by Swiss Re

"Employers say that they have limited budgets for this and want to know how often to test employees and who they should be testing in order to ensure they can keep worksites healthy and safe," Lee said.

Verily closed out 2020 with a massive $700 million funding round that will be used to rapidly scale up its commercial work. The round was led by its parent company and Google holding firm Alphabet as well as investors Silver Lake, Temasek, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and other backers.

The capital will be used to support the expansion of some of Verily’s leading commercial businesses, including its new stop-loss insurance business launched in 2020 in conjunction with Swiss Re. Called Coefficient Insurance Company, the business will combine innovative health technology solutions with novel insurance and payment models and aims to protect self-funded employers from unexpected and large employee health benefit claims.

Employers are worried about the volatility of healthcare costs as a result of the pandemic, Lee said. 

"There are employees who may be putting off important care, and then needing something acutely or have been suffering through COVID. Stop-loss insurance is a very important piece of what we’re providing that is enabling them to insure against the volatility that is happening now with their healthcare costs," she said.

Coefficient will focus on what Verily calls "precision risk" to provide self-funded employers with more predictable benefit plan protection.

RELATED: Here's how Verily plans to invest $700M in fresh capital

"We are seeing much of our work in Verily needed even more urgently than ever as a result of what’s been happening in the world, whether it’s being able to connect with individuals to look over their own health at home or working with employers who are needing more support for their employees through digital tools," Lee added.

Given the financial impact of COVID-19 on the economy, there will increased pressure from payers to reduce the cost of care and improve outcomes with fewer resources, Lee said.

"We can’t afford healthcare costs that we’ve seen in the last few decades, and with the shift from volume to value, we need to support that with all our technologies," she said.

Check out the Fierce JPM Week interview for more about Verily's work with OneFifteen, a tech-enabled addiction treatment center, and its Baseline project.