Northwell Health, New York's largest healthcare provider, announced Friday that it had partnered with Teladoc Health to expand patient care delivery within and beyond its brick-and-mortar facilities.  

According to the organizations, the strategy will also use Teladoc's relationship with Microsoft to boost clinical teamwork and communication.

"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, hospital and health systems, Teladoc Health, in a statement.

WHY IT MATTERS  

At a time when the future of telehealth remains uncertain, Northwell – which serves more than two million people annually in the New York metro area – is signaling its commitment to bolstering its virtual care services for patients.

The companies say that the Teladoc platform will allow patients to access a broad spectrum of clinical services through a unified experience. The implementation, which will start at 20 of Northwell's 22 hospitals and expand over time to more affiliates, aims to facilitate direct-to-patient scheduled visits for clinicians. 

Teladoc's collaboration with Microsoft Teams, announced this past July, offered integrated clinical and administrative medical office operations. This, said the organizations, could allow a more seamless workflow for providers.  

"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," said Puterbaugh.  

THE LARGER TREND

Teladoc has forecasted its plans for hospital growth, with Chief Innovation Officer Claus Jensen telling Healthcare IT News in October 2021 that the company would have a "meaningful sort of ambient presence" in such settings.  

Joseph DeVivo, president of hospitals and health systems, said in February 2022 that he saw telehealth as having gone from a "nice to have" on the use-case level to a "need to have," enterprise-wise.  

"I think many are starting to recognize that successful, integrated telehealth solutions are more than just a doctor on a screen – when deployed holistically, they serve as a digital front door to the health system, provide a positive patient and clinician experience, and ultimately improve patient engagement," said DeVivo in a Healthcare IT News interview.  

ON THE RECORD  

"Northwell Health is driving to improve access to quality health care and to provide wellness support for our communities," said Dr. Martin Doerfler, associate chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical strategy and development at Northwell, in a statement.  

"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," Doerfler continued.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.