What happened
Shares of Teladoc Health (TDOC 3.31%) inched higher on Tuesday following news that the company hit a notable milestone. The stock closed a bit over 1% higher, which was good enough to beat the frothy S&P 500 index's gain on the day.
So what
Teladoc announced, we can assume rather happily, that it has topped 50 million patient visits. That's in addition to the "millions" (the company didn't get any more specific) of visits through the company's enterprise portal for healthcare professionals.
Accompanying this factoid, Teladoc also provided other data points about its telehealth services. It said that its system has enjoyed a fourfold growth in primary-care visits year to date and 30% growth in the same time frame for visits to nutrition professionals. And of those 50 million visits, one-third have happened over the past year.
"We have created a unified and personalized experience while supporting a range of whole person health needs, including primary care, chronic condition management, mental health and nutrition," the company quoted its CEO Jason Gorevic as saying.
Now what
It's important to remember, though, that number of visits doesn't necessarily translate into financial success. Teladoc continues to post headline net losses despite the customer "adds," due to high expenses and costs associated with its nearly $19 billion acquisition in 2020 of peer Livongo Health.
We're also (hopefully) emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. The diminishing major health scare, along with the return of in-person visits, is also affecting the company.
