While the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has thrown the healthcare industry numerous and unique challenges this year, one clear winner over the last several months is telemedicine. Virtual healthcare has been growing by leaps and bounds and is gaining rapid acceptance due to perceived safety, efficiency, convenience and affordability.
Making a powerful move into this space with the support of a $100 million investment by Google Cloud is American Well Corp. (Amwell®) (AMWL:NYSE), which is now expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Amwell announced that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer 35 million shares of its Class A common stock to the public. The initial public offering is expected to be priced between $14 and $16 per share, and is expected to raise around $525 million.
Amwell and Google Cloud recently announced that it entered into a multi-year, strategic partnership with Google Cloud to deliver transformative telehealth solutions across the global healthcare ecosystem. The two firms reported that they aim to "expand access to virtual care, improve patient and clinician experiences, and leverage their unique capabilities to deliver new, differentiated healthcare solutions—across the continuum of care."
Specifically, the companies believe there is a great opportunity to improve patient and clinician telehealth interactions and take virtual care to the next level by employing automated technologies. These systems will serve to improve the waiting room experience and checkout process; offer language translation services; increase the availability of services to more patients, and assist payers and providers in routine tasks. Clinicians will have access to additional tools to intelligently triage cases and thus benefit by a reduction in clinician burnout.
Amwell and Google previously outlined the partnership terms stating that "Google Cloud selected Amwell as its preferred global telehealth platform partner, and Amwell selected Google Cloud as its preferred global cloud platform partner and will migrate its video performance capabilities onto Google Cloud's superior cloud platform for both new and existing customers around the globe."
Under the terms of the agreement, "Google Cloud will invest $100 million into Amwell structured as a concurrent private placement at a purchase price that will be the same as the price to the public in Amwell's IPO and will be contingent upon the closing of its IPO."
Google Cloud's CEO Thomas Kurian commented in a recent news release, "This is a critical partnership for the healthcare industry and has the potential to dramatically transform the telehealth space through the use of modern cloud technologies."
Ido Schoenberg, M.D., chairman and CEO of Amwell, remarked, "We chose Google Cloud as our strategic partner because of their phenomenal people, superior products, and open approach to partnering...Together, we will be able to offer an incredible array of integrated capabilities and help millions of people around the world access better care. Our collaborative work could literally democratize healthcare."
Amwell operates a comprehensive global telehealth platform that connects providers, insurers, and patients in order to deliver increased access to more affordable, higher quality care. The company stated that its platform is designed to support all telehealth needs from urgent and acute care, chronic care management and healthy living. Amwell's network ecosystem includes more than 2,000 hospitals and 50 health plan partners with over 40,000 employers, covering over 80 million individuals.
Google Cloud is a leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions provider that serves organizations and businesses worldwide. The company delivers enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to customers in more than 150 countries.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated that Amwell was expected to begin trading on Sept. 16, but the expected date is now Sept. 17.
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