Northwell Health is set to deploy Teladoc Health’s virtual care platform across the health system to expand its telehealth offerings.
The partnership aims to improve communication between Northwell clinicians by leveraging Teladoc’s integration with Microsoft, according to the companies.
To start, 20 hospitals in the Northwell Health system will use Teladoc’s platform for a variety of clinical services, with additional affiliates to be added over time.
The collaboration will primarily enable scheduled telehealth visits between patients at home and their Northwell providers.
“Teladoc Health is poised to help Northwell Health evolve its virtual care strategy through continued innovation that naturally extends its infrastructure to meet more patient care needs,” said Andy Puterbaugh, president of hospital and health systems at Teladoc, in a statement. “Our single, integrated solution, which spans both consumer and provider-to-provider applications, will add critical capabilities for Northwell Health in support of better health outcomes for all patients.”
Teladoc’s relationship with Microsoft influenced Northwell’s decision to work with the telehealth unicorn, according to the companies, along with the potential for “hyper-personalized” care.
Microsoft announced a partnership with Teladoc in July 2021 to integrate telehealth into the Teams app.
The collaboration links Teladoc’s Solo platform to Microsoft Teams to allow clinicians secure access to clinical data in the electronic health record system without having to leave Teams.
New York-based Northwell Health includes 22 hospitals and 830 outpatient facilities, making it the state’s largest healthcare provider.
The health system said implementing Teladoc’s platform will ease administrative burdens for its clinicians while improving virtual care delivery for patients.
“Northwell Health is driving to improve access to quality health care and to provide wellness support for our communities,” said Martin Doerfler, M.D., associate chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical strategy and development at Northwell. “This relationship with Teladoc Health 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.”
Though telehealth utilization has declined since its 2020 peak, the new mode of care delivery has cemented itself in the future of medicine, with a particularly strong showing in behavioral health and primary care.
In a March survey of 400 providers by health tech startup Wheel, 63% of respondents said they believe virtual primary care will surpass in-person services in the next five years.
Despite the optimism, telehealth companies face rocky roads.
Teladoc’s stock has plunged about 38% so far this year, compared to the S&P 500’s drop of 12%, as public companies across health tech see worsening returns.