SAN FRANCISCO—Teladoc is improving its 24/7 virtual urgent care for health plans by upskilling providers through real-time specialist consultations and offering care for a broader set of conditions, the company announced at the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
The company hopes to save health plans money by reducing the number of follow-up appointments a patient may need to have after a virtual urgent care visit.
Teladoc’s virtual urgent care, which has been operational for over 20 years, will now be treating back and joint pain, hair loss and sleep issues, in addition to acute conditions like colds, coughs and ear infections.
The additional conditions the company added mimic some direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms, like Hims & Hers, which gave consumers a direct pathway to treatment for specific conditions like hair loss. Teladoc's 24/7 Care product is offered by health plans as a covered benefit to their members, rather than operating as a D2C.
The company is also touting the use of virtual urgent care as a touchpoint for members with uncontrolled chronic conditions, like diabetes, hypertension, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The virtual urgent care will also act as a funnel for qualifying patients into Teladoc’s chronic condition programs that offer ongoing support for people with these diseases.
It’s also tapping into its broader network of specialists so that urgent care providers can engage with specialists during a patient’s visit to confirm the treatment plan. They say the capability will allow the member to avoid unnecessary follow-up appointments and referrals by tapping the board-certified specialist during the urgent care visit.
Further, Teladoc Health added a pathway for urgent care practitioners to more easily check a member’s prescription benefits in real-time, so that they can prescribe medications that will be covered by the plan and view the co-pay amounts and preferred medication alternatives.
It can also give patients referrals to in-network specialists, post-visit care team support and internal programs or partner programs that could further aid in the management of the condition, including Teladoc’s programs for diabetes, hypertension and weight management programs. Teladoc offers mental health therapy as well.
“As the pioneer in virtual care, we continue to innovate and raise expectations about the value that can be created in virtual visits,” Kelly Bliss, Teladoc Health’s President of U.S. Group Health, said in a press release. “Our clinical expertise, purpose-built technology and operational scale are unmatched and enable us to deliver meaningful outcomes and measurable ROI for our customers."