Teladoc Health unveiled a new virtual care model for employers and health plans designed to offer a more coordinated, personalized approach for members, while tying payment to clinical and financial outcomes.
The model, called Teladoc One, was built to replace fragmented, condition-specific healthcare programs with an integrated offering that dynamically supports a person's entire health needs rather than only addressing one disease at a time, company executives said. As part of the model, Teladoc Health care teams deliver and coordinate care across virtual settings and in partnership with a member's local providers.
"Teladoc One, fundamentally, is a new care model that's changing the way that we deliver care," Kelly Bliss, president of U.S. Group Health at Teladoc Health, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview.
Teladoc One was developed in partnership with a select group of health plans and employers, first targeting populations with cardiometabolic conditions. Programs under the Teladoc One model will launch with an initial group of enterprise customers in September and it will be generally available in January 2027.
Employers are operating in a "sea of point solutions," Bliss noted, while also facing rising healthcare costs that add significant financial constraints.
"Three in four Americans manage at least one chronic disease, driving approximately $4.7 trillion of spending a year — costs that employers and health plans can’t sustain," Bliss noted.
"For years virtual care has focused on individual diseases and conditions and that really hasn't changed some of the the trajectory of health outcomes and cost of care. Today, many employers are contracting a range of point solutions and it's created siloed health—siloed health data and siloed health outcomes—and risk is identified too late because no single organization has a complete picture of the individual," she said.
To address these challenges, a new model is needed that provides clinical breadth and "structural agility" to medically intervene in different ways, across different specialties and care modalities, and manage a longitudinal relationship with the member, Bliss noted.
As the largest multi-specialty virtual care practice in the U.S., Teladoc Health has the capabilities, clinical and behavioral data and expertise to provide a new model for employers and health plans, Bliss asserted.
The company has delivered 100 million visits across primary care, mental health, chronic illness and acute care. Teladoc Health spent two years building the technical foundation for Teladoc One drawing on the company's large trove of virtual care data, according to the company.
The platform is powered by Teladoc Health's Pulse intelligence engine, which aggregates clinical history along with claims, pharmacy, device, medical record, engagement and eligibility data. These data insights enable care teams to identify emerging trends, intervene, coordinate care, support specialty referrals and improve member outcomes, Teladoc executives said.
"Teladoc One is built on what I would call a primary care chassis, which allows us to deliver more personalized care and help you get care more dynamically across a wider variety of needs, instead of being limited to a predefined set of programmatic interventions that a digital health point solution would otherwise do," Bliss said.
The Teladoc One model aims to drive both clinical outcomes and reductions in total cost of care, with 100% of fees at risk.
"Success will be measured through improvements in condition control, medication adherence, care plan engagement, and follow-up, alongside reductions in medical costs, unnecessary referrals, ER visits, hospitalizations, and more appropriate medication and site-of-care decisions," Ethan Berke, M.D., Teladoc Health's chief medical officer, told Fierce Healthcare. "Because Teladoc One places 100% of its fees at risk, its success is directly tied to delivering validated medical cost savings and improved clinical outcomes.
One key feature of the model is that Teladoc Health care teams coordinate with members' existing providers, complementing the care provided by brick-and-mortar primary care doctors and specialists, according to Berke.
"Care guides and clinicians coordinate care referrals, exchange clinical information through health information exchanges and secure provider messaging, and follow up to ensure patients successfully connect with in-person care when needed. The goal is to create a seamless experience across virtual and local care, reducing fragmentation and improving continuity," he said.
"Say our care team spots that an alternative medication would be a better fit. In that scenario, one of our NPs on the care team is reaching out directly to the patient's PCP to flag it. We’re pleased that external providers have welcomed these interventions and collaborations. In our early pilots, every one of those outreaches to a member's brick-and-mortar primary care has been welcomed," he noted.
For patients, the model is designed to support personalized care pathways, with new capabilities that match patients to the right level of care, optimized for cost and need. The care model was built to be connected, adaptive to provide proactive, always-on care and guidance, according to the company.
"Imagine a patient with hypertension, weight concerns, and increased stress. Instead of navigating separate programs for each, they have one connected care experience," Berke said. "The care team is able to identify changes in their health data in real time, AI provides reminders and check-ins between visits, and the care team coordinates medication management, nutrition support, behavioral health, or specialist referrals as needed. If in-person care is required, we’re coordinating that directly for a seamless experience."
The launch is part of Teladoc Health’s strategy to enhance its integrated care offerings. About two-thirds of Teladoc Health clients have two or more products. A recent study of more than 29,000 Teladoc Health members enrolled in multiple chronic care programs found that when chronic care and mental health are combined, members have significantly greater reduction in blood sugar and more weight loss.
Patients are supported by a multidisciplinary virtual care team spanning licensed clinicians, certified health coaches, registered dietitians, mental health therapists, and specialists. Patients have a care guide who keeps them on track with their care plan and escalates to other members of the care team as necessary, coordinating with in-network primary care physicians and specialists.
Teladoc Health also built AI support that engages members in between care team interactions to send reminders, help with scheduling and provide personalized check-ins.
As part of the model, Teladoc Health builds clinical profiles of patients based on clinical history, claims, pharmacy records, medical records, connected devices, Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), biometric data, engagement patterns and patient-reported preference, Berke said.
"This dynamic profile helps the care team continuously assess risk, identify potential issues earlier, and proactively intervene before a patient's condition worsens. We're using data and technology to personalize outreach, monitor health changes, support care plan check-ins, and equip clinicians with relevant clinical and behavioral insights before patient interactions," he said. "The result is a more proactive, personalized model of care designed to improve outcomes, strengthen patient engagement, and reduce avoidable hospitalizations. Importantly, AI supports the care team, while licensed clinicians remain responsible for all diagnoses, treatment decisions, and direct patient care."