Teladoc Health – An Online Healthcare Company Providing On-Demand Medical Supervision Since 2002
Established in 2002, Teladoc Health is a US-based company providing remote healthcare, medical supervision, telehealth devices, etc. The company has a very broad customer base as it serves more than 130 countries. A virtual healthcare platform like Teladoc Health comes very handy during times of emergency situations. The founders of Teladoc Health are Bryon Brooks and Michael Gorton. Currently, the company has more than 2,000 employees providing healthcare services to around 27 million people around the world.
The idea of Teladoc Health is very unique and it is the first and the largest virtual healthcare company in the US. With time, Teladoc has expanded and rolled out a variety of new products including AI and analytics. The primary way of providing medical supervision to its users is done via telephone, video conferencing app, and also using mobile apps. The importance of online healthcare service will always be on-demand but in situations like a global pandemic, its usability is increased by several folds.
Establishment of Teladoc Healthcare
Bryon and Michael founded the company, Teladoc Health in Dallas, Texas in 2002. The idea of developing an online platform for medical consultancy was first brought to the US by these two people. When the company was founded, the business model was such that it allowed patients to consult state-licensed doctors through the Teladoc platform. While the patients or the users needed to pay a sum of $35 or $40 for every consultation, the company paid a monthly amount for their employees so that they can also have access to the services of Teladoc Health.
With this business model, Teladoc decided to move forward and launched the company nationally in 2005 during the Consumer Directed Healthcare Conference in Chicago. At this time, Michael Gorton was both the Chairman and CEO of the company. After it was launched nationally, many big companies started providing Teladoc services to their employees as a part of their healthcare benefits. By the end of 2007, Teladoc hit 1 million users.
Growth and Expansion
Soon Michael Gorton was replaced by Jason Gorevic and the funding rounds of the company began. In December 2009, Teladoc conducted its initial private funding rounds and raised $9 million. After a couple of years, it raised another $22.6 million. In 2011, Teladoc and Aetna embarked on a joint venture as Aetna started offering Teladoc exclusively to its insured members from Florida and Texas. In 2013, Teladoc acquired a company called Consult a Doctor for $16.6 million to bring more versatility to its platform and give small companies access to the service of Teladoc. By the end of 2013, Teladoc’s total funding money summed up to $46.6 million.
After the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, many companies signed with Teladoc. The company witnessed a great increase in the number of users during 2013 and 2014. Many famous companies like Blue Shield, Oscar, Home Depot, T-Mobile, etc signed in with Teladoc. In 2014, Teldoc acquired AmeriDoc which was one of the biggest competitors of the company during that time. Another private funding round was conducted in 2014 where the company raised $50 million.
The company again made two big acquisitions in 2015, namely Better Help and Stat Health Services. Teladoc became a public company on 1st July 2015 and it was the only telemedicine company in the NYSE. Teladoc acquired the highest number of companies in 2015 and 2016 which includes Compile Inc, HealthiestYou, etc. Teladoc also started to expand its expertise in new fields such as dermatology, sexual health, and behavioral health.
Current Day Teladoc
In 2017, Teladoc made the biggest acquisition in its history as it bought a medical consultation firm called Best Doctors. In 2018, the company changed its name from Teladoc Inc to Teladoc Health. For the next couple of years, Teladoc also focused on acquiring international companies to strengthen its market in other nations. Last year, Teladoc made another big acquisition as it purchased Livongo Health for $18.5 billion.
Teladoc has always intended to stay clear of any major competitors by eventually acquiring them and thus it today has a huge number of services for every kind of patient. In Teladoc Health, there’s a huge diversity in types of medical consultation and virtual care. The company is currently thriving in the healthcare sector under the leadership of Jason Gorevic. He continues to be the CEO of the company since 2009.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more