The latest in a series of collaborations between telehealth providers and brick-and-mortar healthcare systems, Teladoc Health and Northwell Health have formed a partnership. It’s yet another example of how established health systems are increasingly turning to outside experts for their emerging patient-care technology rather than relying solely on their own in-house telemedicine infrastructure. In this case, Northwell will take advantage of Teladoc’s platform and its integration with Microsoft Teams in offering whole-person, medical-grade virtual care.
The rise of virtual care is something that nearly no traditional healthcare system can ignore; the data and analytics company Vantage Market Research recently estimated that the U.S. Telemedicine Technologies market was valued at more than $32 million in 2021 and is projected to hit over $82 million by 2028. Vantage points telemedicine as a viable means to help manage chronic diseases as one of the main driving factors for this growth. And, according to data published by the American Medical Association earlier this year, doctors overwhelmingly embrace telehealth.
The largest healthcare provider in New York State, Northwell Health cares for more than two million patients each year and has 22 hospitals and 830 outpatient facilities. Teledoc Health offers virtual care in areas that include pediatrics, mental health, dermatology, nutrition, sexual health, and primary care through their Solo platform. Teledoc’s system, available on desktops and mobile devices, offers digital patient intake, a personalized dashboard, and the ability for both patients and providers to initiate video consultations, among its many features.
Going forward, clinicians based at 20 of Northwell Health’s hospitals can connect with patients via Teladoc Health’s platform to offer Northwell’s telehealth programs. These include TeleStroke, providing 24/7 care with stroke specialists who use teleconferencing to evaluate patients who may need stroke treatment, and TelePsychiatry, with a wide range of psychiatric services, that Northwell says served about 5,000 patients in 2019. Northwell Health also uses telemedicine to provide critical care; its TeleICU program gives two-way audiovisual bedside support to patients in intensive care units.
Northwell Health’s Associate Chief Medical Officer Dr. Martin Doerfler says of the partnership with Teladoc, “[This] will allow us to optimize our direct-to-consumer telehealth programs to provide the highest quality care and access for all; just as we want and expect for ourselves.”
