Monday, May 16, 2005
Doctor-by-phone
[Tyler Chin, "Doctor-founded company a phone-only practice," AMNews, 23 May 2005.]
Consumers are demanding medical care more focused on their schedules and needs, and the market is responding:
TelaDoc Medical Services Inc. has assembled a network of physicians around the country to offer telephone treatment for minor, nonurgent problems of patients the doctors have never seen in person.
The Dallas-based company, which officially launched its 24-hour telephone-based consultation service in April, involves two separate but affiliated for-profit entities incorporated in Texas, said Michael Gorton, TelaDoc's CEO. One is TelaDoc Medical Services, a patient-membership entity co-founded in 2002 by Gorton and two family physicians -- G. Byron Brooks, MD, of Seabrook, Texas, and Bruce Begia, MD, of San Antonio. The other is TelaDoc Physicians Assn., which provides the telephone consultations.
TelaDoc is the only company in the country focused solely on offering telephone medical consultations, its executives said.
The consultations are also very affordable and HSA-qualified:
So far, TelaDoc says it has 20,000 members who pay monthly fees ranging from $4.25 for an individual membership to $7 for a family membership in addition to a one-time registration fee of $18. Members also pay $35 per consultation, of which $20.50 goes to the physician. The remainder covers TelaDoc's expenses, which include providing liability insurance for physicians and also billing and call center expenses.
Insurers do not reimburse for the service, but patients can use health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts to pay for it, Dr. Kramer said.
[Greg Scandlen, "Choice is revolutionizing health care," The Wichita Eagle, 28 September 2004.]
[Tyler Chin, "Doctor-founded company a phone-only practice," AMNews, 23 May 2005.]
Consumers are demanding medical care more focused on their schedules and needs, and the market is responding:
TelaDoc Medical Services Inc. has assembled a network of physicians around the country to offer telephone treatment for minor, nonurgent problems of patients the doctors have never seen in person.
The Dallas-based company, which officially launched its 24-hour telephone-based consultation service in April, involves two separate but affiliated for-profit entities incorporated in Texas, said Michael Gorton, TelaDoc's CEO. One is TelaDoc Medical Services, a patient-membership entity co-founded in 2002 by Gorton and two family physicians -- G. Byron Brooks, MD, of Seabrook, Texas, and Bruce Begia, MD, of San Antonio. The other is TelaDoc Physicians Assn., which provides the telephone consultations.
TelaDoc is the only company in the country focused solely on offering telephone medical consultations, its executives said.
The consultations are also very affordable and HSA-qualified:
So far, TelaDoc says it has 20,000 members who pay monthly fees ranging from $4.25 for an individual membership to $7 for a family membership in addition to a one-time registration fee of $18. Members also pay $35 per consultation, of which $20.50 goes to the physician. The remainder covers TelaDoc's expenses, which include providing liability insurance for physicians and also billing and call center expenses.
Insurers do not reimburse for the service, but patients can use health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts to pay for it, Dr. Kramer said.
[Greg Scandlen, "Choice is revolutionizing health care," The Wichita Eagle, 28 September 2004.]
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