Last week saw Teladoc Health release its 1Q20 financial results giving the US telehealth industry a first glimpse of how COVID-19 is impacting the ambulatory virtual care market. Discussion around the crisis and its impact on telehealth has been rife since early March and the data published by Teladoc Health highlights that this was justified.
The company reported that the number of virtual care consults in the quarter had passed the 2 million mark, up approximately 60% from the 1.24M reported for 4Q19 and up nearly 90% on the 1.06M for the same period in 2019. Much of this growth had been seen over the period from the start to the end of March, with average daily consultations doubling over the month. Teladoc’s forward-looking statements suggest it expects rapid growth to continue into the next quarter as the full impact of COVID runs for three months, with volumes then flattening in the second half of the year, maintaining the new highs but with growth rates falling back to those seen historically.
Another leading payer/employer-focused telehealth service providers in the US have also been reporting similar levels of success. For example, MDLive reported in early April it had seen volumes increase by 50% between the start of March 2020 and the week of 6th April 2020.
Although these service providers do have some provider customers, the bulk of consultations are driven by payer and employer customers, with consultations provided by Teladoc’s and MDLive’s own associated physicians (similar models are also true of AmWell and Doctor On Demand, for example). What this data does not tell us, is the extent to which virtual care has changed the types of consultations provided by traditional practices in the US.
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Source: Hit Consultant