New Telehealth Merger: Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand
Telehealth growth opportunities surge ahead as competition mounts
Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand have announced plans to merge and form a larger, more competitive enterprise as the telehealth wave sweeps across the United States and global markets. The market valuation of the combined companies is reportedly over $2 billion.
The new organization will have about 1,500 workers as Grand Rounds employs more than 600 workers and Doctor On Demand has over 900 employees. Grand Rounds, founded in 2012 and Doctor On Demand, started in 2013, are both headquartered in San Francisco, California and privately held.
Grand Rounds will be the primary corporate enterprise once the merger is completed and each partner retains its original branding.
Doctor On Demand provides medical and behavioral healthcare services
Doctor On Demand is a virtual healthcare company with a provider network that supports patients nationwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Its website and mobile app provide consumers and patients with access to various healthcare professionals and resources including:
- Physicians
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
Doctor On Demand patients receive care through:
- Virtual visits
- Phone consultations
- Text messaging
The array of care from Doctor On Demand spans:
- Behavioral health
- Chronic care
- Preventative care
- Urgent Care
Doctor On Demand contracts with employers and payers (commercial and government — Medicaid, Medicare Advantage) to support their members. Its patient care and technology attributes are an ideal combination of elements to align with the advantages Grand Rounds offers.
Grand Rounds orchestrates a wide range of services that will be optimized with the addition of Doctor On Demand
Grand Rounds provides a wide variety of employee benefits guidance and patient care services for employers and other organizations to support their employees, dependents or membership. They also collaborate with employee benefits consulting firms to help them provide better value to their clients.
Consumers and patients need help understanding their healthcare plan benefits and often require assistance to gain access to quality healthcare professionals that ideally meet their needs; Grand Rounds excels in providing this support.
Grand Rounds contracts with various healthcare provider organizations to source a variety of medical and behavioral professionals including advanced care specialists to meet the needs of their patient and consumer customers. This is one of the core elements of their referral practices.
Members of organizations contracted with Grand Rounds can contact them and work with a care coordinator to:
- Get detailed information about their healthcare benefits and be provided with other healthcare resources or services
- Speak with a physician about their needs and receive guidance about what type of care they require and from what type of healthcare professional
- Be referred to a pre-qualified doctor that specializes in the type of patient care being sought and have an appointment booked with them
More than 200 licensed clinicians are employees of Grand Rounds. Some of the companies that have contracted with Grand Rounds include Home Depot, Salesforce and Walmart. The company’s estimated value (excluding Doctor On Demand) is reportedly $1.34 billion.
Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand are a formidable tandem
Grand Rounds is well-equipped to function as a virtual employee benefit and healthcare advisor triage unit; Doctor On Demand operates as a patient care clinician and healthcare provider organization. Both companies serve patients and client organizations in metropolitan, suburban, rural and remote areas.
A series of welcoming development position Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand for success
Telehealth/telemedicine has become more widely accepted by consumers, patients, healthcare professionals, insurers and government regulators. Reimbursement by commercial and government payers for telehealth services has become more standardized as a result of the pandemic. Advances in telehealth technology continue to unfold for all stakeholders to benefit from.
Healthcare provider organizations are building out their digital patient care platforms and telehealth has become a standard part of their competitive strategy. This includes behavioral healthcare patients that are using telehealth for virtual counseling and other support.
The telehealth industry is still evolving and becoming increasingly competitive
The merger of Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand could not come at a better time for them as it mirrors the volcanic growth and emerging rivalries in the telehealth sector. Numerous healthcare industry stakeholders are investing in telehealth enterprises.
In 2019 healthcare industry conglomerate UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) acquired Vivify Health, a remote patient monitoring and telehealth enterprise, in late 2019. In the middle of 2020, telehealth and patient monitoring enterprise Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC) acquired Livongo for $18.5 billion.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) formed a virtual healthcare technology partnership with the Veterans Administration (VA) late in 2020. Early in 2021, managed care organization and pharmacy benefits management giant Cigna (NYSE: CI) acquired telehealth leader MDLive.
Just recently, Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) employee healthcare business unit Amazon Care introduced a national telehealth and in-person care program for its employees, their dependents plus outside companies that it plans to roll out this summer.
This is a list of leading telehealth and teletherapy companies:
- Amwell
- BetterHelp
- BetterUp
- Brightside
- Calm
- Doctor on Demand
- Grand Rounds
- Headspace
- HealthSapiens
- HealthTap
- iCliniq
- K Health
- LiveHealth Online
- MeMD
- MDLive
- Online-Therapy
- PlushCare
- Takeaway
- Talkspace
- Teladoc
- Vida Health
- Virtuwell
- Vivify Health
New telehealth enterprises and business models are continuing to emerge worldwide. Each of the companies has its own innovative approach and is uniquely positioned. The integration of Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand offers a wide bandwidth of care, benefits support and technology assets that will make them a robust contender in the telehealth industry.
2021 promises to be a breakthrough year for Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand
While the company initially plans to operate them as separate enterprises, each can function as a lead generator and upselling opportunity for the other. Their new business model positions them to drive clinical innovation for medical and behavioral care patients plus benefits administration automation for their clients.
Thank you for reading this story
Read my other articles about medical and healthcare business trends, content marketing and digital strategy, brand and product management, consumer wellness, managed care, and market access strategy. Contact me today for your healthcare content writing and content strategy needs for medical, business, academic, patient, and consumer healthcare audiences.
I have over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry producing valuable healthcare content for audiences and customers spanning physicians, nurses, pharmacists plus pharmaceutical companies, medical technology manufacturers, healthcare provider organizations, managed care, investors, consumers, and other stakeholders.
Visit and connect…
As a healthcare content writer, my work aligns with an organization’s voice, brand, SEO elements, marketplace and objectives. It establishes trust in their company and recognized value in its products and services that generates revenue.
This experience was earned through working at Walgreens, Pfizer, AbelsonTaylor, TAP (Takeda Abbott Partnership), Hospira Worldwide and Boston Software Systems.
To a large degree, my professional interests emulate my family which includes doctors, nurses, physician assistants and other clinicians plus those that are working in healthcare administration and commercial enterprises.
