In a new article in STAT News, Electronic Medical Records provider EPIC stated that Telehealth visits plunged from 69% of all primary physician visits in April to 21% in July. On a YOY basis, that is still significantly up however, it does bring forward the sustainability of Q2 numbers. In context, telehealth visits immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic were a whopping .01 percent of visits. So, while the high-tide continues to recede the levels remain high.
In Q2 2020 TDOC reported 2,760,000 total visits. In Q4 2019, the last full quarter before Covid, TDOC reported 928,000 total visits.
On a side note (a big, HUGE side note), in late August EPIC and ZOOM became fully integrated. A physician can now launch a Zoom session directly from Epic and patients will be able to launch directly from MyChart. A serious competitor to TDOC’s business that gives Zoom access to 54% of the patients in the US and 2.5% worldwide.
I would differ with that. The Epic/Zoom system that is now out of beta allows your Health Care system to have a queue just like Teladoc only through EPIC’S My Chart. This is in addition to a scheduled appointment with your Primary. Only requests are routed to a department/specialist within their system not Teladoc’s.
So if you are a member of NYU’s medical system, you log-in to Epic’s My Chart app where your issue is routed to, say an NYU ER Nurse. That person receives an EPIC notification with your basic info. Once they log into My Chart it automatically connects them with you. Both you and the nurse have real-time access to your medical records. He or she can make a diagnosis, note it in your records, prescribe a med, order lab work, send a note to your primary physician and NYU’s lab and that’s it. As you can see it has several advantages over Teladoc but has basically the same function… diagnosis and treatment. My spouse had it rolled out last week and says it’s seemless.
I think the difference here is not about functionality…
It is that Zoom + Epic address market where video visit is an option to support patient’s need remotely by doctor currently using Epic. This does not change per visit cost… does not change timing available for doctor’s office…
What Teladoc offers is completely parallel set of choice… it comes with its own network of doctors… offers 24 hours support… with InTouch and LVGO, it will add sensors and data and chronic care support with low cost “coaches”…
So it is not competing with Zoom… it is not competing with Epic + Zoom either… it is competing with combination of your current doctor + Zoom… and offers you (both patient and insurance) a lower cost, more flexible option.
If you do have a good insurance, a set doctor and not care about doctor co-pay, you dont need Teladoc… for others who dont have any / all of these would be better off with Teladoc… specially young people, with occasional health issue, not really have preset physician…
I have a PPO with my wife’s employer, and a family physician… and my insurance still sent me letter saying I can avail Teladoc at no-cost to me… and while I was thinking, its 24 hours service did sound appealing as I remember few times in the past I wish I could avail that… but more importantly, I am pretty sure that insurance sees cost difference to it large enough to make that available knowing well that take rate will be low (for people like me).
So I think this is a large market… and this is not a “winner take most” market by any means… very heterogeneous… and for a low cost disruptor like Teldoc, there is a long runway to grow…
On a side note (a big, HUGE side note), in late August EPIC and ZOOM became fully integrated. A physician can now launch a Zoom session directly from Epic and patients will be able to launch directly from MyChart. A serious competitor to TDOC’s business that gives Zoom access to 54% of the patients in the US and 2.5% worldwide.
The difference is not so much in the service provided but in the business model. EPIC/Zoom is a tool for doctors. Teladoc’s clients are on the other side, they are healthcare payors. The healthcare industry wants to extract as much money as possible from patients. Teladoc wants to reduce the cost of healthcare.
Looking at Teladoc/Livongo from the healthcare point of view misses the point.
One historic comparison might be full service brokers vs. online discount brokers. Online brokers broke the monopoly of the NYSE cartel. They provided the same basic service but with a different business model.
while I was thinking, its 24 hours service did sound appealing as I remember few times in the past I wish I could avail that… but more importantly, I am pretty sure that insurance sees cost difference to it large enough to make that available knowing well that take rate will be low
I feel the end-user i.e. the patient needs to directly see cost savings for TDOC to get mainstream adoption among people who already have their employer-provided health insurance.
For the uninsured young folks, I agree TDOC is a great option as they can directly see cost savings.