Mental Health Critical to Teladoc’s Integrated Care Efforts

Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC) is targeting mental health service expansion as part of its integrated care business.

The telehealth company’s behavioral health efforts have primarily focused on its direct-to-consumer segment, BetterHelp, but that could change as its integrated care business focuses on whole-person care.

“The mental health business, on the B2B side, is approximately $150 million [in revenue],” Mala Murthy, chief financial officer at Teladoc Health, said during the JP Morgan conference. “I think there is room for us to grow that business on the B2B side.”

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Combining chronic care with mental health services could eventually lead to better clinical outcomes, according to Murthy.

There is already a high utilization of mental health services among Teladoc’s integrated care patients. Roughly 62% of Teladoc’s general medical population access its B2B mental health product.

Photo credit: Teladoc

“We have a very skilled mental health offering. We provide digital content, conduct a million visits a year inside integrated care in mental health, and embed it in our chronic condition management program,” Chuck Divita, CEO of Teladoc, said at the JP Morgan conference. “So we’ve got a significant business in integrated care, and with the sort of secular talent around mental health needs, we think this is an important position for us to continue to invest in.”

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Divita was named Teladoc CEO in June after the company’s longtime CEO Jason Gorevic stepped down.

BetterHelp business 

While the organization seeks to expand its integrated mental health offerings, BetterHelp still makes up its primary behavioral health efforts.

BetterHelp had a challenging 2024. The provider is looking to course correct, by allowing customers to use their benefit plans to access the services. Specifically, Teladoc plans to expand its partnerships with employers and payers.

“We have a lot of people that come to BetterHelp and want to use it, but when it comes to affordability and some other challenges, they want to activate their benefits,” Divita said. “We’d like to be in a position for them to do that … through their employer, maybe through an employee assistance program …or health plan coverage. So we’ve been working on that for the last several months.”

Additionally, the company continues to look at international expansion for BetterHelp. Last year, the provider announced its plans to expand to English-speaking countries including the U.K., Canada, and Australia. But it is now looking to expand beyond those markets.

“Until now our international business was largely in English-speaking countries,” Murthy said. “What we are now planning is expanding it, and importantly, as we expand into other countries, actually offering a localized version of the product. So this would mean a local product experience. This would mean local therapists.”

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