Nearly six months after it was first announced, pre-pandemic – with telehealth now surging at hospitals and practices nationwide – Teladoc Health completed its acquisition of InTouch Health on July 1.

WHY IT MATTERS
The purchase price consists of approximately $150 million in cash and 4.6 million shares of Teladoc common stock.

Teladoc's acquisition, the largest yet of the 11 it's made so far, will enable it to expand its offerings to InTouch Health's client base of more than 450 hospitals.

The company says the integration InTouch's technologies, tailored for "complex medical environments" of all shapes and sizes, will help Teladoc offer wider service and improved patient experience in acute care, ambulatory care and home care settings.

The deal boosts the company's end-to-end offerings, said Teladoc officials, thus improving its ability to enable virtual acute visits, help with remote management of chronic conditions and offer providers new modes of specialty care and remote surgery. 

THE LARGER TREND
The InTouch Health acquisition was first announced in January. At the time, Jason Gorevic, CEO of Teladoc Health called it a "bold leap forward" in the company's mission to "transform how high-quality healthcare is accessed and experienced, making virtual care available for patients with even the most critical care needs."

Now, six months later, the acquisition has been finalized in a very different world, with a surge in telehealth, remote monitoring and other virtual care necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teladoc notes that half of providers are now delivering care remotely.

"Teladoc is well-poised to benefit from increased demand from customers opting for telehealth services – an unprecedented trend," according to Zacks Equity Research. "[The] spike in demand for virtual care services has led almost half of the healthcare providers to opt for telehealth services. Also, it seems that most of the hospitals and health systems are now striving to provide virtual care on a larger scale on the back of their technology-driven capabilities."

Teladoc has seen its stock price more than double since the beginning of the year.

But the company also points out that nearly two-thirds of consumers say they want a seamless experience of both in-person and virtual care – and says the InTouch Health acquisition will help it bolster its platform to enable that.

ON THE RECORD
"As virtual care quickly becomes a necessity for all healthcare providers, the acquisition of InTouch Health positions us to lead this transformation in healthcare and be that single, integrated partner," said Gorevic in a statement announcing the deal's completion. "Doctors and hospitals need medical grade solutions and a unified virtual care strategy that can scale and grow with them."

"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," added Joe DeVivo, president at Teladoc Health. "Providers are seeking an enterprise virtual care approach. With our proven healthcare industry expertise and unified platform, we are delivering a better way to engage with patients at every point along their healthcare journey."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
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