Below is a list of 23 new telehealth companies and services that were rolled out in 2021.
September
- CareFirst of Maryland, a Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate, created a virtual care delivery model that lets health plan members get preventive, urgent care and behavioral healthcare through a mobile app.
- The Clinic, a joint virtual health venture between the Cleveland Clinic and Amwell, teamed up with Anthem to offer the insurer's members access to the Clinic's telehealth second opinion service.
August
- UnitedHealth subsidiary Optum began offering virtual care and discounted drugs to patients who pay with cash, presenting new competition to digital health startups and telehealth providers.
- Aetna, a CVS Health company, unveiled its new virtual primary care service for self-funded employers powered by Teladoc Health.
- Philips unveiled the Philips Acute Care Telehealth and Philips Patient Flow Capacity Suites, which utilize the cloud to improve patient care in a scalable and cost-effective model.
- Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health and telehealth company TytoCare partnered to enable remote medical exams with a handheld exam kit provided to the patient.
- Oklahoma Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City launched a virtual urgent care program.
July
- New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health launched an emergency room on-demand program, which allows patients to access physicians in the middle of the night.
- Cigna and New York City-based Oscar Health have partnered to launch Oscar virtual primary care on some of the insurers' joint plans.
- Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger launched virtual visits for conditions generally seen by its urgent care clinics.
May
- Best Buy Health launched a smartphone equipped with virtual care capabilities that can connect older adults to urgent care and response services.
- Geisinger rolled out ConnectedCare365, a virtual care delivery platform for patients with chronic diseases that uses remote monitoring, artificial intelligence and data analysis tools to improve patient outcomes.
April
- Verizon rolled out BlueJeans Telehealth, a platform that claims to simplify patients' experiences, increase access to care and expand the reach of telehealth services available.
- UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Optum deployed a new virtual care product, dubbed Optum Virtual Care, across all 50 states.
- Amwell unveiled its new Converge telehealth platform, which can host and operate digital offerings from Cleveland Clinic, Google Cloud and others.
March
- Telehealth provider Doctor on Demand and clinical navigation platform Grand Rounds merged to create a new integrated, multibillion-dollar virtual care company.
- Amazon announced plans to roll out its virtual medical service Amazon Care for its employees in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., this summer, with plans to expand the offering to other employers later this year.
- UnitedHealthcare rolled out a new virtual care option, called Right2You, for individuals needing hearing assessments or hearing aids.
- Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital teamed up with TytoCare to create an at-home telehealth kit to provide on-demand virtual medical exams.
January
- UPMC unveiled a new telehealth model that lets patients schedule appointments with the Pittsburgh-based health system's virtual primary care service for chronic and acute care conditions.
- Rennova Health completed an agreement with InnovaQor, a subsidiary of TPT Global Tech, to merge Rennova's software and genetic testing divisions and form a company providing telehealth.
- UnitedHealthcare worked with Amwell to debut a virtual primary care service available to members in 11 states.
- Lehigh Valley Health Network rolled out an at-home care program allowing patients to recover at home by combining nurse visits, virtual physician visits and enhanced remote monitoring.