Chronic care management company Livongo is now looking to integrate virtual care into its platform, announcing a new deal with telemedicine giants MDLive and Doctor on Demand.
As part of the deal, Livongo members will be able to tap into telemedicine services through the platform. Livongo for Behavioral Health will be the first service to get the virtual integration starting in January 2020. The company said it plans on expanding the service to its diabetes and hypertension offerings next. The virtual care will be an add-on to Livongo’s AI-enabled platform, which was created to help patients manage a variety of diseases.
WHY IT MATTERS
The chronic care space is rapidly growing in the U.S. In fact, according to a recent Silicon Valley Bank report, mental health and diabetes tools have raked in the largest funding deals within the last few years.
This summer Livongo was one of the first digital chronic care platforms to go public. Now industry players are closely watching the company’s next moves. This deal could be an indication of where the company’s eyes are set. In the press release, Livongo said it would "continue to work with and maintain integrations with other telehealth companies in support of its members and clients."
THE LARGER TREND
Following Livongo’s IPO, it has had its ups and downs in the market. It opened 36% above its initial offering of $28. Today the list price is $22.
In October, the company got a boost when it announced a deal with the U.S. government, giving federal employees insured by the government with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes access to the digital program. The Livongo for Diabetes tool will be open to those insured under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee program, which covers roughly 5.3 million people. This news also boosted the company’s stock by more than 16% in a day.
The company has inked a deal with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, expanding its partnership with the payer to offer its diabetes program to every fully covered Blue KC member.
MDLive and Doctor on Demand have both been in the virtual care space for some time and are competitors in many ways. Founded in 2009, MDLive has continued to make moves in the space. Last year it scored $50 million in new funding.
This isn’t the first major deal for Doctor on Demand this year, either. In April, it signed a deal with Humana to launch a new virtual care model, dubbed On Hand. Members and employers are able to opt into this new plan, which will let patients access an in-network primary care doctor with no copay. Users will also have access to urgent care providers and behavioral health clinicians.
ON THE RECORD
“We are excited to team with MDLIVE and Doctor On Demand to begin bringing telehealth capabilities into Livongo’s platform, and more easily offer our members access to the next-level of clinical care in the context of their daily lives,” Livongo CEO Zane Burke said in a statement. “This is another great example of how Livongo’s continued focus on making it easier for our members to stay healthy leads to unique and meaningful innovations that improve their overall experience.”
