Over the past few years, Teladoc (TDOC +4.24%) has become quite popular with doctors and patients. In this video clip from "The Health & Fitness Show" on Motley Fool Live, recorded on March 18, Fool.com contributors Connor Allen and Rachel Warren chat about Zoom's (ZM +0.78%) viability as a virtual care provider and if it can challenge one of the leaders in the business.
Connor Allen: That's what Teladoc has somewhat prided itself in, and if I remember correctly, is getting through all those regulations and having all of that stuff, I guess ensured the way that they have it. Now, it does open up the question for, this is the question that a lot of people had about Teladoc was can a company like Zoom or Google [part of Alphabet (GOOGL +0.66%) (GOOG +0.41%)] Meets, I know personally with one of my doctors after I had surgery all the follow-ups we're in Google Meets.
A lot of people were like, what is keeping this from just basically like, why would doctors go to Teladoc versus Zoom or Google Meets? This just furthers that question. But I think Teladoc is doing some stuff besides that to further its moat into that market, specifically.
Rachel Warren: Teladoc, I think it's providing that full circle virtual care. What's interesting is, I guess I'd just hadn't quite realized how much Zoom was playing a role in medical providers providing those virtual consultations. I guess I just was assuming Teladoc being one that we're seeing in a lot of places that they're using, but Zoom has also just been a really key tool for providers.
Again, it looks like the current guidance from the Department of Health essentially visits things that are made in good faith, it's not going to have concerns necessarily about legal liability but long term as these tools are being increasingly leveraged, I think it does raise some important questions. It's unprecedented territory. We weren't having people conduct these virtual visits at nearly the same rate there now as they were five years ago. This was not a thing I think that most providers were doing.
