Teladoc teams with Amazon on chronic care
Amazon surfaces eligible benefits to customers when they search for related products or devices.
Photo: Luis Alvarez/Getty Images
Virtual care company Teladoc Health has announced it is teaming with Amazon to expand access to its telehealth chronic condition programs.
Amazon customers who are eligible for Teladoc Health's diabetes, hypertension, pre-diabetes and weight management programs can enroll in these cardiometabolic care benefits directly through Amazon's Health Benefits Connector, previously known as Health Condition Programs.
Amazon offers scale by surfacing eligible benefits to customers when they search for related products or devices. Nearly a quarter of adults say they are unaware of all the benefits available through their health plan, Teladoc said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
More than half of adults in the U.S. live with at least one chronic disease.
Teladoc Health has more than 1 million active enrollees across its chronic condition programs, which leverage connected devices, data-driven personalization and coaching to support sustainable behavior change and improved cardiometabolic health.
"This partnership helps deliver on our strategy to bring greater value to our customers in our individual solutions and across our integrated offerings," said Teladoc Health CEO Chuck Divita. "By enabling customers to discover and enroll in our programs on Amazon, this effort will improve access to needed care and help people manage their health in an easier and more convenient way."
THE LARGER TREND
There are several ways telehealth can aid in the treatment of chronic conditions, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
These include telehealth appointments for care, check-ins and the explanation of tests or imaging results; asynchronous information sharing through a secure portal; provider-to-provider video or phone chats; and remote patient monitoring.
Flexibilities for expanded telehealth uses were made available during the public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. These flexibilities were extended until the end of 2024 and were expected to get a long-term extension as proposed in the original end-of-year spending bill. However, changes to the bill made these flexibilities available only until the end of March.
Further telehealth use requires congressional action. Telehealth has received bipartisan support.
ON THE RECORD
"The scale and expertise of our two organizations give us a unique opportunity to strengthen our impact on healthcare together," said Aaron Martin, vice president of healthcare at Amazon. "Building on this relationship, we're excited to find more ways to advance our collaboration and explore new ways to simplify and improve health solutions for customers."
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
