Each month we highlight a company we have researched and features on our Ethical Screening Portal, this month we look at Teladoc Health and the Health Care Providers Sector.
Health Care Providers Sector
The Health Care Providers sector consists of companies involved in providing medical services or facilitating the provision of healthcare to patients through hospitals, clinics, psychiatric facilities and nursing homes.
Company activities are primarily positive for their contribution to ensuring the health and wellbeing of the population. Possible negative issues in the sector relate to inequitable access, particularly for marginalised communities, instances of malpractice as well as waste and energy use from operations.
Here we highlight Teladoc Health for its approach to advancing greater health equity and creating greater access to health care.
Teladoc Health
Teladoc Health provides virtual healthcare services globally. The company's mission is to empower all people everywhere to live their healthiest lives by transforming the healthcare experience through technology and data. To deliver on its mission, Teladoc provides whole-person virtual care including primary care services (providing the first point of contact in the healthcare system, such as a general practitioner), mental healthcare services, and chronic condition management. As of 2021, more than 92 million people had access to a Teledoc Health product or service.
In 2021, the company launched new products and services, including:
- Primary360 - a primary care offering designed to remove longstanding barriers to care such as access, cost and lack of convenience, especially for those who do not have an ongoing relationship with a primary care provider.
- myStrength - a service providing personalised mental healthcare to individuals, with a particular focus on members facing racism and discrimination as well as resources for LGBTQ+ communities.
Additionally, the company is helping to expand equitable access to quality care to communities across the globe. In 2021, this included:
- Providing $65m+ in aid to enable mental health therapy for low-income consumers.
- Supporting 24 active programs in partnership with the World Telehealth Initiative
- Providing disaster support through 24/7 medical telehealth visits to communities impacted by natural disasters in the US.
- Supporting the 55% of users of its chronic care services, who live in vulnerable or underserved communities.
Access to Health Care
Access to health care differs greatly between countries but also within countries. Whilst access across the world has improved since the 1990s, inequalities in access have also grown. Establishing universal health coverage (UHC) has been put forward as the solution and is based on the principle that all individuals and communities should have access to quality essential health services without suffering financial hardship. Achieving UHC by 2030 is included in Goal 3 of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and was reaffirmed at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on UHC in 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) states investments in quality primary health care will be the cornerstone for achieving UHC around the world.
Key Facts:
- More than half of the world's population lack access to essential health services.
- Each year around 100 million are pushed into poverty because of health expenses.
- Globally, it is estimated that 5.7 million people in low and middle-income countries die each year from poor quality healthcare, and 2.9 million people die from being unable to access care.
- To meet the health workforce requirements of the SDGs and UHC targets, over 18 million additional health workers are needed by 2030. Gaps in the supply of and demand for health workers are concentrated in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
Teladoc Health is a company that features on our Ethical Screening Portal. To find out more about this company, or our services please contact info@ethicalscreening.com
Sources:
https://www.teladochealth.com/
https://www.news-medical.net/health/How-Can-We-Achieve-Equal-Global-Health-Access.aspx
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/universal-health-coverage-(uhc)
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2018/12/07/lack-of-health-care-is-a-waste-of-human-capital-5-ways-to-achieve-universal-health-coverage-by-2030