Dive Brief:
- Virtual care player Teladoc closed its acquisition of provider telehealth business InTouch Health for $150 million in cash and 4.6 million shares of common stock on Wednesday.
- The deal, first announced in January, was valued at $600 million overall. It's the vendor's largest acquisition to date as it looks to round out its presence in hospitals and health systems, which are turning to telemedicine in droves to connect with patients amid the pandemic.
- Analysts see New York-based Teladoc as the player to beat in the exponentially growing telehealth industry, with services running the gamut from acute visits and chronic condition management to remote surgery and specialty care. Its volumes and revenues have skyrocketed since March, spurring Teladoc to almost $181 million in revenue in the first quarter this year, up 41% year over year.
Dive Insight:
Virtual care vendors like Teladoc, Amwell and Doctor on Demand are capitalizing on the pandemic driving consumer knowledge and adoption of digitally delivered healthcare. Small independent physician practices and behemoth health systems alike are looking to integrate telemedicine solutions to triage with remote doctors, manage patients' chronic conditions and more as coronavirus cases surge once again in the U.S.
“With both our longstanding clients and new partners that have come to us since the start of the pandemic, there is a seismic shift in the urgency and readiness of hospitals and physician practices large and small to virtualize now,” Joe DeVivo, president, Hospital & Health Systems, Teladoc Health said in a statement
InTouch, founded in 2002, contracts with more than 450 hospitals and health systems, including 30 of the 50 largest U.S. health systems like HCA and Kaiser Permanente. It was a good buy for Teladoc, analysts said, as it will expand Teladoc's provider client list while easily integrating with its existing platforms.
Teladoc, which went public in 2015, reported a healthy first quarter amid the pandemic driven by a stark increase in visit volume. Revenue from visit fees in the U.S. more than tripled from the first quarter of 2019 to $12.6 million, and quarterly visits reached 2 million for the first time, up 92% year over year. Teladoc upped its full year expectations as a result, including an estimated 8 million and 9 million visits over 2020. That's compared to 4.1 million visits in 2019.
The 18-year-old company has undergone eleven acquisitions so far to drive growth, including global virtual care provider Advance Medical in 2018 for $352 million and medical consultation company Best Doctors in 2017 for $440 million.