Oventus Medical rethinks clinical model 

BRISBANE, Australia – Oventus Medical’s pivot to telehealth and a home care option has allowed the company to continue growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Dr. Chris Hart, CEO. 

Due to closures, Oventus Medical has transitioned to online or phone conversations to complete the verifications needed for insurance coverage and to schedule scan appointments for its O2Vent Optima oral device.  

“Out of adversity comes opportunity,” he said during a recent investor briefing on the company’s new marketing agreement with VGM & Associates. “It made us look at our clinical model. The introduction of telehealth and home care is going to be a huge boon for us.” 

Telehealth has allowed Oventus Medical to build a pipeline of appointments for its lab-in-lab sites – appointments that the sites can work through as they reopen. In December, the company had launched 31 sites, with 22 physically scanning patients. 

If sites are closed for an extended period, Oventus Medical can now also send a clinician to the home to obtain the records required for the device. 

“We do intake by telehealth – we verify insurance, obtain pre-authorization – and then schedule them for a scan on-site or deploy a home care process,” Hart said. “We have a scalable model.”  

This more virtual model was a big reason that Oventus Medical was able to seal a deal with VGM & Associates, Hart says. VGM has agreed to promote the O2Vent Optima to its 2,500-plus members so they have the option of transitioning patients to oral therapy when they’re not “trending well” on CPAP therapy, he says. 

“(CPAP manufacturers) distribute their CPAPs to these members through VGM, and very excitingly, it’s the first time an oral appliance has been offered through this same pathway on a large national scale,” he said.