With social distancing and lockdown restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the delivery of medicine is undergoing its own revolution that includes a higher degree of telemedicine usage, which should help boost certain exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“The COVID-19 pandemic is nothing my medical school training could ever have prepared me for. As a neurologist, I have witnessed strains on my patients, colleagues and the medical institution where I work up close,” wrote By Teshamae Monteith, M.D., in a U.S. News article. “In my headache medicine practice, I have started to see a rising number of people with cases or suspected cases of COVID-19 complaining of new or worsening headaches.”
“Fortunately, because of federal and state changes allowing for expanded coverage of telemedicine and because private insurers have followed along, I have been able to see these patients safely and without risk of exposure,” Monteith continued. “Before the pandemic, telemedicine coverage by neurologists was largely limited, often restricted to rural communities and cases of stroke care. Just a few months before the pandemic, I hesitated to adopt telemedicine because I felt it would not be an equivalent experience to an in-person patient encounter.”
From the use of robots to artificial intelligence, Covid-19 is forcing the healthcare sector to adopt revolutionary uses for medicine. Additionally, they’re not temporary workarounds but uses that will stand the test of time.
“Now, I’m convinced telemedicine is a valuable option that needs to stay,” Monteith added.
A growing use in telemedicine could benefit the Global X Funds – Telemedicine and Digital Health ETF (EDOC). EDOC seeks to invest in companies positioned to benefit from further advances in the field of telemedicine and digital health.
This includes companies involved in Telemedicine, Health Care Analytics, Connected Health Care Devices, and Administrative Digitization. The Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF (EDOC) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Telemedicine & Digital Health Index.
For a more broad-based play on the reliance of internet use amid Covid-19, another fund to consider is the Global X Internet of Things ETF (SNSR). SNSR seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Indxx Global Internet of Things Thematic Index.
The fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the underlying index. The underlying index is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that facilitate the Internet of Things industry, including companies involved in wearable technology, home automation, connected automotive technology, sensors, networking infrastructure/software, smart metering, and energy control devices.
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