Digital health business HealthTap, which has evolved from an email doctor query service for patients to multiple services from drug interactions to helping patients access lab data, has added a health management portal for employers. That’s an interesting development for a company that’s charged customers $99 per month to use its service with the argument that they will save time and money by requiring fewer in-person visits (and copays). It raises questions about whether the oft-repeated aspiration by some digital health companies’ to be an Uber of healthcare is sustainable.
HealthTap’s Compass hub will centralize its services for self-insured employers, starting with Flextronic, according to a company statement. The idea is to provide employees healthcare information, prescriptions, video consultations, lab test referrals and interpretation.
In an interview over the summer at the time of its Quest collaboration, HealthTap CEO Ron Gutman said, “We are not just focused on telemedicine and engagement. We have the opportunity to connect the dots together to help people take care of themselves.”
Healthcare companies historically have gone the business-to-business or business-to-business-to-consumer route. But digital health companies that have championed the direct-to-consumer approach have used the argument that the retail experience was something healthcare lacked and that there’s enough of an appetite for a service-oriented approach that gives customers what they need whenever they want it.
HealthTap pays doctors based on how many patients they see and the ratings for those interactions. The fact that HealthTap is diversifying its model now by adding a dedicated service for self insured employers doesn’t necessarily mean that the Uber approach doesn’t work. But at least for now, it’s a challenge to pull off without big company customers to support it.
