- Disruptor in virtual care and digital medicine
- Provides recurring revenue services in a frictionless, reimbursable transaction model
- Connected Health products used by healthcare enterprises and care teams across NA
What Cloud DX (TSX-V:CDX, OTCQB:CDXFF) does:
Cloud DX Inc (TSX-V:CDX, OTCQB:CDXFF) is an emerging leader and disruptor in virtual care and digital medicine based in Kitchener, Ontario and Brooklyn, New York.
The company focuses on analysing unique, accurate vital sign data from proprietary medical devices and mobile apps. In the new world of coronavirus (COVID-19), virtual care is in high demand but trustworthy data from remote, isolated patients is less available – Cloud DX fills this niche.
Cloud DX provides remote patient monitoring hardware, software and recurring revenue services in a low-friction, reimbursable transaction model, coupled with a sales strategy that is driving rapid adoption among North American healthcare providers.
Its Cloud DX Connected Health products were invented and developed in Toronto, Canada and are used by healthcare enterprises and care teams across North America to remotely manage chronic conditions, enable ageing in place and deliver hospital-quality post-surgical care in the home.
Cloud DX’s Connected Health platform monitors and reports on physiological data including heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, weight, temperature, and blood glucose levels, along with condition-specific surveys, wound care and connection to the patient via two-way messaging and video visits.
Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, a Fast Company “World Changing Idea” finalist, a 2021 Edison Award winner and one of Canada’s top 10 Telehealth providers.
How is the company doing:
Demand for virtual healthcare is on the rise, not least because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and Cloud DX is benefitting from the shift.
COVID-19 has also underscored the vulnerability of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, nearly 75,000 Canadians are admitted to hospitals every year for COPD. Each hospital stay lasts an average of 6.1 days at an average cost to the healthcare system of $7,185 per visit or $539 million per year, making COPD exacerbation one of the largest healthcare costs in Canada.
Remote monitoring by Cloud DX helps clinicians detect symptoms of COPD exacerbation earlier and trigger pre-approved action plans to guide COPD patients to take immediate steps to alleviate their symptoms, reducing ER visits and hospitalizations. As a result, there are better healthcare outcomes for patients and lower COPD hospital costs.
Cloud DX is not operating alone. On April 28, 2021, it announced a partnership with fellow virtual care providers Maple and Curatio to create a new Canada-wide COVID-19 home monitoring program capable of tracking vital signs and providing virtual physician care.
The Canada-wide Virtual COVID-19 Outpatient Program (VCOP) allows Canadian healthcare organizations to assist COVID-19 patients in their homes by utilizing remote automated monitoring technology, efficient clinical oversight, and daily disease management support.
Cloud DX, Maple, and Curatio have agreed to share revenues earned under the joint program, wherein each company will offer the best available pricing.
A month later, on May 26, the company announced it had partnered with Maxwell Telecare to bring round-the-clock virtual care and real-time vital sign monitoring to residents living in long-term care (LTC) facilities.
The new solution, which combines Maxwell Telecare's on-demand telemedicine for post-acute care with Cloud DX’s remote patient monitoring and diagnostic platform, is available now to healthcare partners in the US Midwest and Northwest, said the company.
It will allow LTC providers to react swiftly to changing patient conditions and ultimately reduce the need for unnecessary hospitalizations. Under the initial 36-month agreement, Maxwell will purchase Cloud DX products and services for deployment with all Maxwell customers in the US.
Shortly afterwards, on June 2, Cloud DX said it extended its remote patient monitoring and virtual care contract with a large Canadian provincial health authority until March 31, 2022.
Under the terms of the deal and the extension, Cloud DX said it receives an upfront payment for each one of its Connected Health Kits delivered to a patient, and then charges a monthly connectivity, software, and service fee for each active patient account.
The Connected Health platform also won Cloud DX a new 36-month contract with Medicuro Virtual Health Clinic, announced on June 23.
Medicuro will supply the Cloud DX Connected Health platform to patients under its care who are suffering from chronic illnesses such as congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
That was followed up, on June 29, with news of a new partnership with the Lung Health Foundation to supply remote patient monitoring (RPM) kits and services in the province of Ontario.
The foundation plans to deploy the Connected Health remote patient monitoring platform through Ontario hospital partners to improve care for patients suffering from COPD.
Not long after, Cloud DX announced on July 9 that it is deploying its Connected Health Kits at Wellness Suites Developments.
Niagara Falls-based Wellness Suites Developments houses a 5,500 square foot functional medicine and research centre, staffed by functional medicine doctors, family practitioners, chiropractors, physiotherapists and massage therapists.
The initiative includes remote patient monitoring as part of an overarching wellness initiative within the 97-suite luxury, wellness-themed condominium development aimed at sophisticated baby boomers aged 65 and older.
Up to 40 Connected Health Kits will be deployed to residents through the Wellness Suites on-site clinic by September 2021.
A week later, the company announced it is teaming up with two Ontario hospitals to reduce the surgical backlog due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is working with Hamilton Health Sciences and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton on a “virtual command centre” supported by Cloud DX. The virtual command centre will provide patients with a dedicated hospital-to-home care team using the Connected Health technology.
The pandemic has caused a backlog of close to 419,000 elective surgeries and 2.5 million diagnostic tests, according to Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office. Both Hamilton Health Sciences and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton are facing a backlog of around 11,300 surgeries, Cloud DX said in a statement.
In its latest contract win, on August 10 Cloud DX announced a new commercial agreement with Dagamma Ecommerce Solutions Inc, which is focused on providing health monitoring solutions for growing families.
The move brings the Connected Health remote patient-monitoring solution to expectant mothers at risk of maternal hypertension. The company noted that Connected Health has been used by top obstetricians to manage maternal blood pressure in office and clinical settings since 2017.
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs) or complications from high blood pressure is one of the most common medical problems during pregnancy. It can include for the mother, chronic (or pre-existing) hypertension, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.
While expanding the reach of its Connected Health platform, Cloud DX announced on May 20 that it has been issued a US patent for its upcoming Pulsewave 2.0 vital sign monitor, a personal health monitor device capable of simultaneously capturing diagnostic-quality blood pressure, heart rate, heartbeat irregularities and respiration rate.
US Patent 11,006,843 titled “System and Method of Determining Breathing Rates from Oscillometric Data” protects Cloud DX's method for determining the breathing rate of a patient using an oscillometric device as the physiological sensor and positions Pulsewave 2.0 as the first home-based vital signs monitor of its kind able to capture such a wide swath of diagnostic data.
The Pulsewave 2.0 is worn on the wrist and oscillometric waveforms are obtained from pulses in the patent’s arteries as they breathe, and the cuff deflates. Pulsewave software analyzes these signals and produces breathing rate data. When the device is connected to the internet, physicians can derive additional biological metrics from the data via the Cloud Diagnostics online platform.
On the financial front, Cloud DX’s efforts to scale sales together with increased COVID-19-related demand resulted in a 90% increase in subscription revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 from a year earlier and 30% year-to-date. It also reported a 184% rise in gross profits for the year, with 66% of that coming from financial 2Q.
While total revenue was up 8% for the first half of the year, the second fiscal quarter saw a 40% decline. The company said product and professional services revenue is expected to be 'lumpy' in the early stages of growth. Specifically, in 2020 a large Connected Health Kit deployment for an academic study generated an unusual concentration of hardware revenue that has not been matched so far in 2021.
Meanwhile, to help increase its exposure to a broader investor audience, Cloud DX’s shares commenced trading on the OTCQB Venture Market on July 14.
A leading market for early-stage and developing companies, the OTCQB is operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX:OTCM) To be eligible to trade on the OTCQB, companies must be current on disclosure obligations, provide an annual company verification and management certification process, and pass a minimum bid price test.
Inflection points:
- COVID-19 accelerates deployment of Connected Health Kits
- OTCQB listing expected to broaden investor base
- Subscription revenue growing rapidly but total revenue expected to remain lumpy
What the boss says:
"This represents a new milestone for Cloud DX as we execute on our growth strategy and mission to make healthcare better for everyone," CEO Robert Kaul said in a July 14 statement as the company’s shares started trading on the OTCQB Venture Market.
“The US market is not only an important market for us in terms of investor interest but is also the focus of future growth for the business, with the virtual care opportunity representing a total addressable market of US$250 billion. Listing on a US exchange will help Cloud DX increase its exposure to a broader investor audience and elevate our stature with US healthcare payers and providers and the patients they serve."
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com