Telehealth specialist Teladoc Health (TDOC -0.07%) acquired digital health management company Livongo in October 2020. The acquisition brought Livongo's programs for remotely managing conditions like diabetes under Teladoc's umbrella.
In this video from "Beat & Raise" on Motley Fool Live, recorded on Sept. 23, Fool.com contributors Taylor Carmichael and Brian Withers; along with tech, healthcare, and cannabis editor and analyst Olivia Zitkus; discuss the value the Livongo acquisition brings to Teladoc customers and shareholders.
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Taylor Carmichael: I think the Livongo acquisition in retrospect was a really good play for them. I think that's a good way to attach people to their brand, to their name, and just get that continuing use of the system. Because the more people that use it, the more comfortable they are with it, the more it becomes a part of who they are. Just like Amazon, when you have that mindshare. At the time, I was dubious about the acquisition, but now I really do think the Livongo pickup was very smart.
Olivia Zitkus: Livongo is diabetes specialist, so that's a much more in that kind of treatment, you've touchpoint with your patient every single day, many times a day. Which is exactly what we're talking about, Taylor.
Brian Withers: I know Livongo, I was a Livongo shareholder before the acquisition. Diabetes was their first chronic care treatment plan that they're putting together, but they've expanded to other chronic care, and potentially things like smoking cessation and other things that require ongoing services. I think to Taylor's point, Livongo gets them into that chronic care touchpoint where you need ongoing, and the virtual can be a bot or it can be just a record of data at a certain point in time. I think there's potential virtualization where you don't even need to see somebody. [laughs] You take it even one step further.
