Teladoc Health, Inc. is a multinational
telemedicine and
virtual healthcare company headquartered in the United States.
Primary services include telehealth,
medical opinions,
AI and analytics, telehealth devices and licensable platform services.
In particular, Teladoc Health uses telephone and videoconferencing software as well as
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s to provide
on-demand remote medical care.
Billed as the first and largest telemedicine company in the United States, Teladoc Health was launched in 2002
and has acquired companies such as
BetterHelp
BetterHelp is a mental health platform that provides online mental health services directly to consumers. The online counseling and therapy services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication. BetterHelp wa ...
in 2015,
Best Doctors
Steven Naifeh (born June 19, 1952) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer of both Jackson Pollock and Vincent van Gogh. In addition to writing 18 books with Gregory White Smith, Naifeh is a businessman who founded several companies, incl ...
in 2017,
and Advance Medical in 2018.
It trades on the
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
and in 2019 was active in 130 countries and served around 40 million members in 2021.
History
2002–2008
Teladoc was founded in 2002 in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
by G. Byron Brooks EE MD and
Michael Gorton. Billing itself as the oldest telemedicine company in United States,
Teladoc's initial business model allowed patients to remotely consult with state-licensed doctors at any time.
Companies paid a monthly fee for their employees to access the service, while patients paid a flat fee for each consultation, originally about $35 to $40.
With Gorton as both chairman and CEO,
Teladoc launched nationally in 2005
at the Consumer Directed Health Care Conference in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
Teladoc had around 1 million members by the end of 2007, with large employers such as
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
providing the service to employees as a health benefit.
2009–2014
Jason Gorevic was named Teladoc's chief executive in 2009.
The company's initial private funding rounds raised $9 million in December 2009,
$4 million in January 2011,
and $18.6 million in September 2011.
That year,
Aetna
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...
began offering Teladoc for its fully insured members in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and Texas, later offering Teladoc in all 50 states.
Teladoc acquired Consult A Doctor for $16.6 million cash in August 2013,
allowing smaller companies to access Teladoc's services. At the time, Teladoc completed 120,000 consults annually.
Teladoc raised $15 million in September 2013, with total funding at that point equaling $46.6 million.
The
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
led to a large number of insurance companies signing with Teladoc, resulting in a growth surge around 2014. By that time, insurance companies such as
Blue Shield of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
had signed with Teladoc, as well as other companies such as
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...
,
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
,
CalPERS
The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is an agency in the California executive branch that "manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.5 million California public employees, retirees, and their families".CalPERSFa ...
,
and
Rent-A-Center
Rent-A-Center (commonly referred to as RAC) is an American public furniture and electronics rent-to-own company based in Plano, Texas. The company was incorporated in 1986 and as of 2014 operates approximately 2,972 company-owned stores in the Un ...
.
Teladoc acquired AmeriDoc for $17.2 million in May 2014.
The acquisitions of Consult A Doctor and AmeriDoc, both Teladoc's main competitors, resulted in Teladoc becoming the largest telemedicine provider in the United States. With 8 million individual patients,
Teladoc's doctors performed 299,000 consults that year.
Teladoc's sales doubled in both 2013 and 2014,
and Teladoc raised $50 million from private investors in September 2014,
bringing total funding to $100 million.
2015–2016
![Teladoc IPO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Teladoc_IPO.jpg)
The company acquired
BetterHelp
BetterHelp is a mental health platform that provides online mental health services directly to consumers. The online counseling and therapy services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication. BetterHelp wa ...
in January 2015 for $3.5 million,
followed by Stat Health Services, Inc. (StatDoc) in June 2015 for $30 million.
After beginning the process that April,
Teladoc went public on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
on July 1, 2015.
The only telemedicine company on the NYSE,
Teladoc's
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
listed at $19 per share, giving the company a
market capitalization of $758 million and an
enterprise value Enterprise value (EV), total enterprise value (TEV), or firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a business (i.e. as distinct from market price). It is a sum of claims by all claimants: creditors (secured and unsecured) ...
of $620 million.
The initial response to the IPO was positive, as shares surged 50 percent on the opening day.
Three months after the IPO, health insurer
Highmark
Highmark is an American non-profit healthcare company and Integrated Delivery Network based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a large individual not-for-profit health insurer in the United States, which operates several for-pro ...
, which represented 1.5% of Teladoc's 2015 revenue, ceased to renew a contract. Teladoc shares fell significantly as a result, before rising to earlier levels.
Teladoc acquired the behavioral health services provider Compile Inc. in January 2015, followed by the competitor Stat Health Services Inc. in June 2015.
In 2016 Teladoc began aggressively expanding, acquiring other companies and launching health segments for
dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...
,
behavioral health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
, and sexual health. That year the company won a
patent infringement lawsuit filed against competitor
American Well.
In July 2016, Teladoc acquired HealthiestYou
for $45 million.
Teladoc had 15 million members by November 2016
and a market share of 75% in the United States.
It also operated its full service suite in 48 states, excluding
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
and Texas. In December 2016, the
American Hospital Association exclusively endorsed Teladoc's telehealth technology platform.
Teladoc logged 952,000 patient visits that year.
2017–2021
In its largest acquisition at the time,
in 2017 Teladoc spent $440 million purchasing
Best Doctors
Steven Naifeh (born June 19, 1952) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer of both Jackson Pollock and Vincent van Gogh. In addition to writing 18 books with Gregory White Smith, Naifeh is a businessman who founded several companies, incl ...
, a medical consultation firm
and provider of medical second opinions and
pay-to-play
Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...
medical award listings.
On February 28, 2019, non-profit group
ProPublica
ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...
released a report critical of companies like subsidiary Best Doctors that sell physician awards, including "Best Doctors" awards.
Teladoc had 7,500 clients in 2017, of which 220 were
Fortune 1000
The Fortune 1000 are the 1,000 largest American companies ranked by revenues, as compiled by the American business magazine ''Fortune''. It only includes companies which are incorporated or authorized to do business in the United States, and for ...
companies.
Sales that year were $233 million, 89% higher than the year prior.
As of July 2018, Teladoc Health brands included Teladoc, Advance Medical, Best Doctors, BetterHelp and HealthiestYou.
With a market capitalization of $4.1 billion,
on August 10, 2018, Teladoc, Inc. changed its name to Teladoc Health, Inc. while continuing to trade on the
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
.
Teladoc Health began partnering with
CVS in August 2018 on remote consults at MinuteClinics.
In December 2018, Teladoc Health's
chief financial officer and
chief operating officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...
Mark Hirschhorn resigned after a report that he engaged in a sexual relationship and
insider trading with an employee.
[Teladoc Health CFO resigns amid allegations of misconduct](_blank)
December 19, 2018 According to
Yahoo Finance
Yahoo! Finance is a media property that is part of the Yahoo! network. It provides financial news, data and commentary including stock quotes, press releases, financial reports, and original content. It also offers some online tools for pers ...
, stock value fell roughly 20% in the days following,
while an investor class action lawsuit alleged that Teladoc Health had violated securities laws by failing to disclose Hirschhorn's behavior. Teladoc Health denied making false statements or any legal violations.
Joining from
American Express, Mala Murthy was appointed
CFO
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
in June 2019.
In late 2018, Teladoc Health acquired the telemedicine company Advance Medical for $352 million, which employed doctors in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.
In 2019, the French health company MédecinDirect was acquired.
Teladoc Health provides free telehealth visits to natural disaster and hurricane victims, and in 2019 it provided the telemedicine system implemented for patients in
Paradise, California
Paradise is a town in Butte County, California, United States in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 4,764. On November 8, 2018, a major wildfire, the Camp F ...
after the
Camp Fire, working through
Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California is a mutual benefit corporation and health plan founded in 1939 by the California Medical Association. It is based in Oakland, California, and serves 4.5 million health plan members and more than 65,000 physicians acr ...
. In April 2019, Teladoc launched in Canada with the Teladoc Telemedicine Service.
In May 2019, the company created a virtual care
patient safety organization
A Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection and analysis, reporting, education, funding ...
(PSO) dubbed the Institute for Patient Safety and Quality of Virtual Care.
Currently headquartered in
Purchase, New York,
as of 2019, the company was active in 130 countries and had around 27 million members.
David Sides was appointed
COO in 2019.
In 2019, the company had revenues of $533 million and 4.1 million total visits.
[Pifer, Rebecca]
"COVID-19 spurs tripling in Teladoc visits to 2.8M, full-year outlook hiked again." Healthcare Dive; July 29, 2020.
In January 2020, Teladoc announced that it was acquiring InTouch Health for both cash and stock. Closing the deal in July 2020,
Teladoc predicted that its "hospital-based telemedicine business" would grow significantly as a result.
In March 2020, Teladoc was "partnering with the CDC to provide near real-time surveillance data on the spread of the
ovel coronavirus" By July 2020, Teladoc's reported revenue was up 85% from 2019, with its paid US membership doubled from 26.8 million to 51.5 million.
[
In August 2020, the business announced it would acquire Livongo Health for $18.5 billion. It was the "third-largest deal for a U.S. company" that year, with the combined companies to have a joint enterprise value of around $37 billion.]
Services and business model
Teladoc Health divides its services into six categories: platform and program services, guidance and support, expert medical services, mental health services, telehealth, and integrated virtual care. As a software company, Teladoc Health is involved with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
, analytics, telehealth devices[ and "licensable platform services."] The company uses telephone and videoconferencing software to provide on-demand remote medical care, with patients able to log on to the service at any time and be connected with a board-certified, state-licensed physician within several minutes.
The company's physicians treat non-emergencies such as the flu
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...
, pink eye, infection
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...
s, sinus issues, mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...
issues, and dermatological conditions, among others. The company has an expert network of 55,000 involved in 450 medical subspecialties. While medication can be prescribed remotely, physicians do not prescribe narcotics or "lifestyle" drugs such as Viagra
Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by ...
, and refer some cases to clinics or emergency rooms. In 2014, Teladoc Health reported that it sent around 1% of consultations to the emergency room, and around 6% to a primary care physician or urgent care center An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...
. In 2019, the company also claimed that 92% of medical issues were resolved after the first visit. Physicians overall follow "more than 100 proprietary clinical guidelines" developed by Teladoc Health, and are prohibited from physically meeting their telemedicine patients. Teams of nurses review around 10% of each physician's consults monthly.
Contracting largely with insurers and large employers, Teladoc Health generates revenue through a yearly or monthly fee charged per subscriber, as well as a fee for individual consults. Some companies waive or subsidize the consult fee for their employees. Teladoc Health has around 3,100 licensed physicians and nurses and services offered in about 30 languages.
By July 2020, the company stated it served "60 of the top 100 hospitals,"[ with telemedical robots being used at hospitals such as Providence Regional Medical Center in ]Everett, Washington
Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
and Sheba Medical Center
Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...
in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, minimizing the potential spread of coronavirus.
Lobbying and legislation
Teladoc Health has been involved in lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
for legislation in several states. In 2015 the Texas Medical Board The Texas Medical Board (TMB) is the state agency mandated to regulate the practice of medicine by Doctors of Medicine (MDs) and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) in Texas. The Board consists of 12 physician members and seven public members ap ...
ruled that state physicians had to physically meet patients before remotely treating ailments or prescribing medication. The bill undermined Teladoc Health's business model in Texas, where it had around 2 million subscribers. Teladoc Health sued in federal court over the rule in ''Teladoc v. Texas Medical Board'', arguing the bill violated antitrust law
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
s by inflating prices and limiting the supply of health care providers in the state. The bill, meant to go active on June 3, 2015, was stalled while the lawsuit went through a federal appeals court, allowing Teladoc Health to continue operating in Texas in the interim. Teladoc voluntarily dropped the lawsuit in 2017 after Texas passed a new bill allowing for remote treatment without a prior in-person interaction, which Teladoc Health had lobbied heavily for.
In January 2019, Teladoc Health opposed a telemedicine bill proposed by the North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
Board of Medicine, which required telemedicine providers to perform initial video examinations or have initial exams done by another physician. Proponents argued the bill protected patients, while Teladoc Health and critics argued it decreased access to healthcare in rural areas. The year prior, Teladoc Health had completed 1,500 virtual visits in the state.
See also
* Electronic consultation
*Health care in the United States
The United States far outspends any other nation on health care, measured both in ''per capita'' spending and as a percentage of GDP. Despite this, the country has significantly worse healthcare outcomes when compared to peer nations. The Uni ...
* Online doctor
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2015 initial public offerings
Companies based in Purchase, New York
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Health care companies established in 2002
Telemedicine