Reading about business these days means seeing a lot of downward red arrows. Markets might be rebounding as of late, but there have been plenty of bankruptcies, desperate acquisitions and so many layoffs across the tech sector that a website was built to track them. If there are any upward arrows at all, it’s the number of daily coronavirus cases in the US.
And moving on up alongside it is Teladoc ($TDOC), which leads the pack among all the health technology companies eating up a huge chunk of the healthcare industry’s market share.
It feels like the telemedicine company’s share price hits a new all-time high every day, and with its recent acquisition of InTouch Health ($PRIVATE:INTOUCHTECHNOLOGIES), the sky’s the limit.
Teladoc’s app has raked in an additional 74,000 reviews since January, compared to 56,000 during the same period last year. At the same time, the share price has exploded upwards to $208.9 by market close Thursday, a 151% increase from January.
As people remain locked up at home avoiding pharmacies and doctors’ offices, businesses that offer no-contact alternatives are thriving. We saw it with Capsule ($PRIVATE:CAPSULECARES) which is finding success in the New York market, but it’s happening on a much larger scale with Teladoc, which has the ability to digitally connect patients and health professionals across the nation.
Despite app ratings soaring, Teladoc’s Facebook Talking About count has not shot up in the same way Capsule’s did last month. Their highest spike sits 51% lower than last year’s high, and even lower than that of 2018. Capsule, despite largely serving one major city, has kept pace with Teladoc and fell short of its peak by 200 mentions.
Perhaps Americans, especially during this vulnerable time, just aren’t as inclined to share something deeply personal like how they’re seeing their doctors as they are with how they get their prescriptions delivered.
Teladoc’s workforce grew considerably in the first half of 2020 and is still climbing upwards. LinkedIn headcount stood 1,430 employees tall in January and is now sitting just shy of 2,000. Job listings (not shown) are down 43.5% since January, but you don’t exactly need to hire when you’ve just gobbled up a competitor like InTouch with 275 employees, according to the company’s LinkedIn Page. In the last few days, Teladoc added some 200 new heads, likely as InTouch’s employees switch over their profiles to reflect the acquisition.
There’s been some debate lately about whether or not the trends that have come to pass due to COVID-19 will have a lasting impact or if we’ll return to normal, but if there’s any industry that won’t go back to the old ways, it’s healthcare.
Demand will continue to grow for telehealth specifically not just because of learned habits under COVID, but because rural communities often lack access to nearby healthcare and are increasingly relying on telehealth, and because the disabled or elderly simply may not be able to easily access their primary care physicians. Teladoc will emerge from the pandemic as a powerful force in the industry.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
