10 things to know about Optum, Amazon & Walmart's telehealth offerings

Optum, Walmart and Amazon have torpedoed into telehealth as virtual visits were made popular during the pandemic.

Ten things to know about their telehealth offerings:

  1. UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Optum has deployed telehealth offerings across all 50 states, dubbed Optum Virtual Care.

  2. Optum provides on-demand telehealth visits for both physical and mental health needs, where patients can join a virtual waiting room and will be greeted within 15 minutes.

  3. Optum offers audio-only telehealth visits for patients whose phones do not have a camera.

  4. Amazon Care, which offers telemedicine and in-person primary care services, initially offered services to the company's Seattle employees and their dependents. 

  5. Amazon later expanded it to all its employees in Washington state and said in March it would expand the service nationwide and to other employers.

  6. Amazon Care signed its first enterprise client, Precor, a fitness company recently acquired by Peloton, according to a May 5 Insider report.

  7. Walmart has a partnership with Doctor on Demand to offer services to its 1.3 million workers nationwide. In February 2019, Walmart dropped the price of virtual visits for employees from $40 to $4 per visit, and during the pandemic, the company has offered telehealth for free to employees covered by Walmart's health insurance plan.

  8. In April, Walmart inked a partnership with direct-to-consumer telehealth app Ro, launching the company's health and wellness products and digital services in more than 4,600 Walmart stores across the country.

  9. Walmart Health has entered an agreement to acquire on-demand, multispecialty telehealth provider MeMD, the retailer said May 6. By acquiring MeMD, Walmart will begin providing virtual care services for urgent, behavioral and primary care to complement its in-person Walmart Health Centers.

  10. MeMD provides 24/7 virtual care offerings to its 5 million clients nationwide.

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