New Contract Adding Thousands of Patients to Telehealth Platform

Reliq Health Technologies Inc. (RHT:TSX.V; RQHTF:OTCQB; A2AJTB:WKN) has signed a contract with a physician network to add as many as 100,000 patients to its iUGO telehealth platform as its chief executive officer said the company is in a period of rapid growth.

"Due to our accelerating traction with large U.S. healthcare clients, we are currently adding multiple care managers and implementation specialists to support the large deployments that we are initiating in multiple states across the U.S.," Lisa Crossley said. The rapid growth "is expected to result in record revenue growth in 20204 and beyond."

The company just had its first profitable quarter during the three months ending March 31 with a gain from operations of CA$731,017 YoY. It also has started scoring larger contracts for iUGO, including one with a U.S. health plan that operates in five states with more than 3,000 doctors and 1 million patients.

The company is gathering "continuing momentum," Maxim analyst Allen Klee, who has rated the stock a Buy with a CA$1.75 per share target price, has written.

The company is gathering "continuing momentum," Maxim analyst Allen Klee, who has rated the stock a Buy with a CA$1.75 per share target price, has written.

"We believe the company has hit an inflection point of accelerating revenue and EBITDA profitability," he wrote. "Tailwinds include a significant number of larger contracts that have been won."

The company will release final financial results for its fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30 in October. Crossley recently told analysts and shareholders that, according to estimates, revenues more than doubled from fiscal year 2022.

The Catalyst: 'Another Substantial New Contract'

Reliq said the newest contract is with a physician network with more than 300 locations across the country, including 750 physicians. It could add more than 100,000 new patients to iUGO by the end of 2025. Onboarding begins next month.

"This is another substantial new contract for Reliq," Crossley said.

The company expects to generate US$65 per patient per month at about 70% gross margin, she said.

The iUGO platform helps manage diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, and others.

The telehealth market was valued at US$128.12 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to US$504.24 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7%, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Patients get audible reminders to step on a scale, take their blood pressure, or prick their fingers for glucose monitoring. The information is automatically uploaded to the cloud. 

Drawing on data from fall detection devices, medication tracking, and vital signs, iUGO flags patients at home or in facilities who need additional monitoring.

Crossley said the new client for the platform was referred by an existing skilled nursing facility network on the platform.

"Healthcare customers are very conservative due to the highly regulated environment in which they operate and the critical impact their decisions have on the health and safety of their patients," Crossley said. "The fact that Reliq acquires so many of our clients through referrals and word of mouth is a testament to our unique value proposition in this market."

An Increasingly Important Part of Healthcare

According to a report by Allied Market Research, an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases is fueling the expansion of remote patient monitoring like Reliq's platform and other telemedicine services.

"The approach has strikingly evolved in the last decade, and it is becoming an increasingly important part of the healthcare infrastructure," the report said.

The telehealth market was valued at US$128.12 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to US$504.24 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7%, according to Fortune Business Insights.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and put many burdens on healthcare workers. 

"This has opened new market opportunities for digital health platforms," according to the report.

iUGO Expansions

Reliq recently announced it has expanded the platform to cover remote monitoring for pediatric patients with diabetes and other conditions. The company said it expects to add more than 3,000 pediatric patients to iUGO by Q2 2024 through existing contracts with home health agencies in Texas.

It also recently announced a post-discharge program for acute hospitals on iUGO. Called iUGO Care, it supports patients being discharged from an acute care hospital to their homes, inpatient rehabilitation, assisted living, or skilled nursing facilities.

Hospitals can be assessed penalties of up to 3% of total Medicare reimbursement for the following year if they don't meet targets reducing readmissions, which could mean millions of dollars in lost revenue, Reliq said.

More than 96% of all hospitals in Florida were assessed financial penalties in 2021 because of the issue. Over 2,300 U.S. hospitals will pay more than US$320 million in such penalties in 2023, according to Kaiser Health News. 

Ownership and Share Structure

About 8% of Reliq's shares are owned by insiders, including Crossley, with 1.6% or 3.22 million shares. About 0.3% of the company is owned by institutional investors, including FNB Wealth Management, with 0.01% or 0.03 million shares, according to Reuters.

Other top investors include Eugene Beukman, who owns 0.11% or 0.23 million shares, and Brian Storseth, who owns 0.07% or 0.14 million shares, Reuters said.

Crossley said 91.7% of the company is retail.

The company has 203 million shares outstanding, with about 200 million free-floating. It has a market cap of CA$99.42 million and trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.76 and CA$0.375.

Important Disclosures:

1. Reliq Health Technologies Inc. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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