Approximately 100,000 U.S. Medical Visits in Seven Days Expand Capacity of Stretched Health Care System
Respiratory Condition Diagnoses Increase 24% Over Same Month Last Year
PURCHASE, NY, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC), the global leader in virtual care, today shared that the company is experiencing unprecedented daily visit volume in the United States as the novel coronavirus continues to spread globally. This week, patient visit volume spiked 50 percent over the prior week and continues to rise. The company had been handling visit demand consistent with peak flu volumes, but on Wednesday began to see that number accelerate to as much as 15,000 visits requested per day. Teladoc Health has provided approximately 100,000 virtual medical visits to patients in the United States in the past week, helping to alleviate pressure on the broader health care system.
“We are seeing more patients and more of those patients are experiencing upper respiratory issues,” said Lew Levy, MD, chief medical officer, Teladoc Health. “As we saw during the flu epidemic of 2018, a community’s healthcare system can become overwhelmed and virtual care can help provide needed relief. We have the unique ability to immediately connect with the CDC and other government agencies, to add the right screening tools and clinical quality protocols to our system, and most importantly, to keep patients – particularly those most at risk with underlying health conditions – out of care settings where they can face exposure.”
The demand for virtual care visits has accelerated as several health plans have waived consumer cost sharing and public health officials at all levels of government have encouraged the public to take advantage of virtual care services. These actions have driven many people to use telemedicine for the first time, with more than half of all the Teladoc Health visits this month being from first time users.
“The traditional health care system simply does not have the capacity to address a worst-case scenario when it comes to the coronavirus,” said Mark Smith, MD, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and member of the Teladoc Health board of directors. “The good news is that we have never been better able to address this challenge because of companies like Teladoc Health, that bring high-quality, affordable virtual care to every individual who needs care while reducing community exposure.”
Individuals can find out if they are a Teladoc member who can benefit from virtual care by visiting www.teladoc.com/start. For additional information on the novel coronavirus and how virtual care can help, visit https://www.teladoc.com/coronavirus/ or www.teladochealth.com.
About Teladoc Health
A mission-driven organization, Teladoc Health, Inc., is successfully transforming how people access and experience healthcare, with a focus on high quality, lower costs, and improved outcomes around the world. Ranked #1 among direct-to-consumer telehealth providers in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Telehealth Satisfaction Study, the integrated services from Teladoc Health include telehealth, expert medical services, AI and analytics, and licensable platform services. With more than 2,000 employees, the organization delivers care in 130 countries and more than 30 languages, partnering with employers, hospitals and health systems and insurers to transform care delivery. For more information, please visit www.teladochealth.com or follow @TeladocHealth on Twitter.
Media Contacts:
Alex Newby
(859) 753-5531
an@thinkrevivehealth.com
Courtney McLeod
Director of Communications
914-265-6789
cmcleod@teladochealth.com
