Teladoc-Livongo Deal Combines Telehealth With Chronic Care Management

One of the nation’s largest telehealth companies is planting a significant stake in the chronic care management market.

Teladoc Health has announced a merger with Livongo, a connected health company that got its start in diabetes care management and has since expanded to a wide range of virtual care services. The deal, with a price tag of roughly $18.5 billion, expands on a “consumer centered virtual care” concept that will likely see increased use as the nation looks to shift more care out of the hospital or doctor’s office and into the home.

“This highly strategic combination will create the leader in consumer-centered virtual care and provides a unique opportunity to further accelerate the growth of our data-driven member platform and experience,” Glen Tullman, Livongo’s founder and executive chairman, said in a press release. “By expanding the reach of Livongo’s pioneering Applied Health Signals platform and building on Teladoc Health’s end-to-end virtual care platform, we’ll empower more people to live better and healthier lives.”

The merger highlights a shift in thinking for telehealth advocates in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, during which in-person care has been limited to critical issues and more and more services are pushed online and into the home setting. The crisis is prompting healthcare providers to try out telehealth and remote patient monitoring platforms.

That fits right into Livongo’s wheelhouse. The company was launched by Tullman, a former Allscripts executive who has a son living with diabetes, as a care management platform to track data and push resources out to consumers, enabling them to collaborate with care providers and take more control over their health and wellness.

Over time, Livongo branched out to include more chronic conditions, including mental health concerns, and expanded its platform to offer a wide array of integrated services.

Teladoc Health, meanwhile, has been expanding its platform far beyond direct-to-consumer telehealth, also with an eye to integration. Recently the company closed on its purchase of InTouch Health, aiming for a significant slice of the enterprise telehealth market.

“The combination of these organizations will create the clear leader in comprehensive virtual care solutions for hospitals and health systems, both inside and outside the four walls of the traditional care facility,” Teladoc Health CEO Jason Gorevic said in a January 2020 e-mail to mHealthIntelligence. “This announcement comes at a time when demand for virtual care services within the provider market is poised for significant growth.”

“As the population ages, combined with chronic conditions increasing, the need for care is outpacing what traditional health facilities, and the supply of specialists, can efficiently handle,” he added. “Providers are increasingly looking to virtual care to address these issues. This acquisition enables providers to offer one integrated platform for patients throughout their care journey and cover the full range of acuity – from acute to chronic, including everyday needs – across all sites of care inclusive of home, retail, hospital and more.”