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Teladoc Health is a global virtual healthcare organization that provides both direct-to-patient ambulatory telehealth and enterprise hospital virtual care infrastructure. In acute and inpatient health-system informatics, the Teladoc Solo platform (built on the enterprise telehealth network acquired with InTouch Health) connects bedside clinical endpoints, pan-tilt-zoom room cameras, and remote clinical specialists directly into hospital Electronic Health Records (EHRs) via HL7 v2 and HL7 FHIR interoperability standards.
What Is Teladoc Health? Who Runs It and What the Platform Covers
Headquartered in Purchase, New York, Teladoc Health, Inc. operates across two primary clinical technology segments: (1) Integrated Care & Chronic Condition Management (virtual primary care, mental health, and connected remote patient monitoring for diabetes and hypertension), and (2) Hospitals and Health Systems Enterprise Virtual Care, powered by the Teladoc Solo platform.
Following Teladoc Health’s 2020 acquisition of acute telehealth pioneer InTouch Health, the enterprise hospital suite was consolidated under Teladoc Solo. Rather than running separate point solutions for emergency room consults, inpatient monitoring, and outpatient video visits, the Teladoc platform unifies hardware endpoints, network routing, and EHR integration across four clinical domains:
- Acute Specialty Consultations: High-acuity remote specialist evaluations—such as telestroke neurology, tele-ICU intensivist coverage, emergency department psychiatric evaluations, and neonatal resuscitation consults—using purpose-built mobile telehealth carts and peripheral diagnostic attachments (digital stethoscopes, otoscopes, and exam cameras).
- Inpatient Virtual Nursing: Using fixed in-room video endpoints (such as Teladoc Solo Lite wall units and smart hospital room TVs), remote registered nurses perform admission intake histories, medication reconciliation, patient discharge education, and dual-sign-off verification alongside bedside staff.
- Virtual Sitting & Continuous Patient Observation: Centralized remote observation workflows where a single patient safety observer monitors multiple fall-risk, delirium, or behavioral-risk inpatient rooms simultaneously using pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, infrared night vision, and two-way audio.
- Outpatient & Decentralized Clinical Care: Scheduled ambulatory video encounters for specialty follow-ups and remote study visits in centralized vs. decentralized clinical trials.
How Clinicians Use the Teladoc Solo Platform Inside Hospital EHR Workflows
To prevent “swivel-chair” switching between standalone video apps and the hospital chart, the Teladoc provider workflow is designed to execute inside enterprise EHRs—most notably Epic (via Epic Connection Hub, Epic Monitor, and MyChart Bedside TV) and Oracle Health (Cerner) (see Epic vs. Oracle Health (Cerner) and EHR vs. EMR):
- Triggering a Virtual Consult or Bedside Session from the EHR: A bedside nurse or ordering physician places a consult order or initiates an inpatient virtual care request directly inside the patient’s EHR encounter.
- Automated Context Passing via HL7 v2 and FHIR APIs: Teladoc Solo exchanges ADT (Admit-Discharge-Transfer), scheduling (SIU), and clinical context messages conforming to US Core HL7 FHIR profiles so the remote Teladoc provider opens the session already matched to the correct patient chart and room endpoint.
- Connecting to the In-Room Endpoint or Acute Cart: The remote clinician launches the audio/video stream from their EHR-embedded workspace, connecting directly to the bedside InTouch/Teladoc cart, tablet, or fixed room camera (with configurable privacy modes and visual/audible connection indicators for patient privacy).
- Controlling Far-End PTZ Cameras and Peripheral Diagnostics: During an acute telestroke or ICU evaluation, the remote specialist controls pan-tilt-zoom camera framing to perform standardized neurological exams (such as the NIH Stroke Scale) and views real-time medical device streams.
- Documenting the Encounter in the Host EHR: Upon concluding the virtual visit or virtual nursing intervention, the clinician documents clinical findings, orders, and billing codes directly in the hospital’s native EHR chart under HIPAA Security Rule audit and encryption controls.
Strengths and Limits for Hospitals and Clinical Research Sites
- Strengths: Purpose-built low-latency cloud network and medical-grade hardware endpoints engineered for high-acuity inpatient and emergency settings (inherited from InTouch Health); native alignment with Epic’s Inpatient Virtual Care blueprints (Epic Monitor and MyChart Bedside TV); unified platform spanning virtual sitting, virtual nursing, acute specialty consults, and outpatient telehealth.
- Limits: Enterprise hospital deployment requires dedicated biomedical engineering, network QoS configuration, in-room hardware installation, and HL7/FHIR interface buildout—making Teladoc Solo heavier to deploy than lightweight browser-only telehealth tools used by small outpatient practices.
Alternatives to Teladoc Solo for Hospital and Clinical Telehealth
Health systems and academic medical centers evaluating enterprise virtual care platforms typically compare Teladoc Solo against other acute and ambulatory telehealth architectures:
| Platform | Primary Clinical Focus | Hardware & Room Endpoints | EHR Interoperability Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teladoc Health (Teladoc Solo / InTouch Health) | Enterprise acute care (telestroke, tele-ICU), virtual nursing, virtual sitting, and ambulatory care | Dedicated medical carts, Solo Lite in-room wall endpoints, PTZ cameras, and TV integration | Deep native integration with Epic (Epic Monitor, MyChart Bedside) and Oracle Health via HL7 v2 & FHIR |
| Amwell (Converge Platform) | Enterprise health systems, acute inpatient virtual care, behavioral health, and payer telehealth | Amwell medical carts, Carepoint TV endpoints, and browser/mobile apps | FHIR/SMART on FHIR EHR launch within Epic, Oracle Health, and other enterprise EHRs |
| Caregility (Caregility Cloud) | Inpatient virtual nursing, virtual sitting/observation, and ICU telehealth | In-room wall/ceiling APS endpoints, smart TV systems, and mobile carts | HL7 and FHIR integration with major inpatient hospital EHRs |
| Zoom for Healthcare / Doximity Dialer | Outpatient ambulatory video visits and remote patient/family conferencing | Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) smartphones, tablets, and clinic workstations | Epic App Market / SMART on FHIR launch for scheduled outpatient visits; limited acute hardware fleet management |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Teladoc?
Teladoc Health is a virtual healthcare provider and clinical technology company that delivers both on-demand/scheduled outpatient telemedicine services and enterprise hospital virtual care infrastructure through its Teladoc Solo platform.
What is the Teladoc Solo platform and how does it relate to InTouch Health?
Teladoc Solo is Teladoc Health’s enterprise cloud virtual care platform for hospitals and health systems, built by integrating the acute telehealth software, low-latency network, and bedside medical cart/camera hardware originally developed by InTouch Health (acquired by Teladoc Health in 2020).
How does Teladoc Solo integrate with hospital EHRs like Epic?
Teladoc Solo integrates with enterprise EHRs such as Epic using HL7 v2 and HL7 FHIR standards (including Epic Monitor and MyChart Bedside TV workflows), allowing remote specialists, virtual nurses, and patient safety observers to launch video sessions, control in-room pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and document care directly inside the patient’s EHR chart.
Sources
- Teladoc Health, Inc. — Hospitals & Health Systems: Teladoc Solo Enterprise Virtual Care Platform (https://www.teladochealth.com/organizations/hospitals-health-systems)
- Teladoc Health, Inc. — Corporate & Clinical Virtual Care Overview (https://www.teladochealth.com/)
