Drug chain believes in potential of telemedicine, spokeswoman says
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. is purchasing the assets and intellectual property of bankrupt telehealth kiosk provider HealthSpot.
A Rite Aid spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that the company won an auction this week for the HealthSpot assets with a $1.15 million bid. “We are happy to obtain the assets, as we very much believe in telehealth as a health care solution,” she said in a statement.
Last July, Rite Aid had officially launched HealthSpot telehealth stations at 25 of its drug stores in the Akron-Canton, Cleveland, and Dayton-Springfield, Ohio, markets. The retailer had announced its partnership with HealthSpot in November 2014 and at the time said it planned to pilot the technology at stores in those communities.
However, the kiosks were removed from the Rite Aid stores earlier this year after HealthSpot notified the drug chain late last year that it was ceasing operations, the Rite Aid spokeswoman said.
Dublin, Ohio-based HealthSpot liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. HealthSpot had valued its assets and intellectual property at $5.2 million when the court accepted its bankruptcy plan in March, according to MedCity News, which reported that most of HealthSpot’s 191 kiosks hadn’t been deployed.
HealthSpot’s cloud-based telehealth software enables users to interact privately with health care providers in a 40-square-foot kiosk using high-definition videoconferencing and biometric medical devices, including a stethoscope, an otoscope, a pulse oximeter and a magnascope. Each station is supported by a trained attendant, and the kiosk features digital signage, a check-in touchscreen and a card reader. Patients can access a menu of basic health care services, and a prescription can be created and forwarded to the pharmacy.
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