Telehealth Companies Ramp Up Advertising as They Expand Into Complex Medical Care
In recent years, telehealth has taken off in a big way, partly due to a surge in advertising and a shift towards offering more intricate medical services.
Boom in Telehealth Ads
These days, telehealth companies are everywhere you look, ramping up their advertising across various media. In 2023, thirteen telehealth companies collectively spent $111 million on TV ads alone, more than doubling what they spent in 2019. “We aim to make healthcare as accessible and convenient as possible,” said a spokesperson from Ro, underlining the company’s commitment to reaching more people through strategic marketing.
These ads often feature well-known celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, alongside social media influencers, to make healthcare seem approachable and free of stigma, especially for conditions like erectile dysfunction and hair loss, which have traditionally been sensitive topics.
Convenience vs. Quality of Care
Telehealth’s main draw is its convenience, offering easy solutions for healthcare needs. Patients can diagnose themselves and request prescriptions for conditions they think they have. This flips the traditional healthcare model on its head, where diagnosis usually comes before treatment. “The clinician acts more as a screener to ensure medication safety,” explained Ateev Mehrotra, a public health professor at Brown University.
While this approach might work for straightforward needs like birth control, critics warn it might not be ideal for more complicated issues that require detailed and ongoing care. For example, mental health treatment often needs a mix of medication and therapy, along with regular follow-ups to check how effective the medication is and its side effects.
Successes and Limitations
Take Harley Diamond’s experience with Nurx, a telehealth company providing birth control. Living in Tennessee, where access to contraception is tough because of clinic closures, Diamond found telehealth to be a crucial resource. “It’s a lifeline in areas where healthcare access is limited,” she said.
However, when it came to mental health care, Diamond ran into issues. The lack of consistent care, frequent surveys, and slow responses from clinicians highlighted the downsides of telehealth for more complex health needs. “There is no comforting face to validate you,” Diamond noted, pointing out the impersonal nature of the service.
Tackling the Challenges
Telehealth companies are aware of these hurdles and are working to improve their services. Rajani Rao, a senior vice president at Nurx, recognized the need for better response times and continuous care, particularly as demand for mental health services rises. “We are constantly working to refine our approach to meet our patients’ needs,” she stated.
Additionally, experts like Reshma Ramachandran from Yale stress the importance of combining mental health medications with therapy, a pairing that telehealth platforms have yet to fully implement. Her upcoming research suggests that the polished image shown by telehealth ads might not completely match patient experiences.
Regulatory Watch
With telehealth growing so fast, regulatory eyes are turning towards it. Last year, Senator Dick Durbin and former Senator Mike Braun proposed legislation to regulate telehealth advertising practices. As the industry keeps evolving, making sure that ads accurately reflect patient care is becoming more important.
Wrapping Up
As telehealth companies stretch the limits of traditional healthcare, finding the right balance between convenience and quality care is key. While the industry brings great benefits, especially in areas with limited healthcare access, it also faces the challenge of delivering comprehensive care for complex health conditions. As advertising efforts increase and services grow, the focus needs to stay on making sure that patient care is not just accessible, but also effective and dependable.
