A patient visits with a doctor through the Teladoc app.
Courtesy Teladoc Health

Pre-pandemic, remote medical visits were often stymied by insurance companies and state medical boards. But COVID-19 made telemedicine essential. That was a boon for Teladoc Health. Think of the remote medical service like a virtual urgent-care clinic where a doctor is always on call; it provides a variety of nonemergency services, and doctors can write prescriptions. Teladoc’s total visits increased to over 10 million in 2020, up from just over 4 million in 2019. Now, the company is adding the ability to automatically upload data from connected medical devices—all without the waiting rooms and paper gowns.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

EDIT POST