North Texas-Based Healthcare Startup Touts At-Home COVID-19 Treatment
by Robbie Owens | CBS 11
McKINNEY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Now more than ever, our Covid world has made convenience a priority, including for healthcare services and that's creating an opportunity for a McKinney-based startup.
"When Covid hit, everything just skyrocketed!" says CourMed founder and CEO Derrick Miles. "It gave them an opportunity to say 'hey I can stay home and get my prescriptions, I can home and get my vitamins, I can stay
home and get my vaccine, and now, I can stay home and get my monoclonal antibody."
Lifesaving Covid treatment that's quick, convenient, and home-delivered.
"If a person has COVID 19, they do not need be going out into the marketplace, so that other people can get infected," says Miles. "They need to be able to stay home, make sure it's contained and bring in a professional to treat them in that environment."
Miles is a former healthcare executive turned entrepreneur, but he is not alone in singing the praises of monoclonal antibody treatment.
"Last year, we said, 'gosh if you have Covid, stay at home if you don't need the hospital'...now, it's a very different message," says Robert Gottlieb, MD, PhD, Baylor Scott & White. "We have the hard clinical data now to say that we can reduce hospitalizations by somewhere between 70-87%."
And reducing hospitalizations also reduces Covid deaths.
Although commercials touting the treatment have been airing for months to spread the word, it was news this week of Gov. Greg Abbott's Covid diagnosis and monoclonal antibody treatment plan that Miles says had his phone ringing.
"Oh, demand has skyrocketed!" shares Miles. "From Texas to California to Arizona, to Florida... we've been inundated with requests to provide monoclonal antibodies in patients' homes."
CourMed partners with a physicians' group and nurses to deliver the care as soon as same day for cash customers.
"The medication comes from the pharmacy. We use our platform, our enterprise software. We have a driver drive to that patient's home. He or she meets the nurse. That nurse is there at the front door, goes into the home and provides the monoclonal antibody infusion. It takes about an hour and then also a little time for evaluation before the nurse comes outside of the home," explains Miles.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is recommended for any patient at risk for Covid complications which could include obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, even arthritis.
Doctors say the treatment is most effective is received soon after diagnosis.
Although the company says they can provide same or next day service for cash patients, those looking to use insurance benefits are often delayed two to three days to seek approval.
Without insurance the cost is $600.
Miles says often, they don't want to wait, saying when patients are aware of the benefits of monoclonal antibodies, they want it quick, and convenient.
"Absolutely. Same day so they can reduce symptoms, make sure their Covid does not progress, so they do not have to be admitted to the hospital."
