- GoodRx recently announced it acquired HeyDoctor in order to get into the telemedicine industry. And the company revealed it saved Americans $14 billion since 2011.
Drug comparison company GoodRx recently announced it was getting into the telemedicine market with the acquisition of a company called HeyDoctor. HeyDoctor is a leading physician-founded provider of online medical services.
The new service is called GoodRx Care. According to Business Insider, this market is expected to hit $64 billion in the U.S. by 2025.
GoodRx Care is coming at a time when Americans are finding getting access to primary care physicians to be increasingly difficult. And for those with insurance, the average wait time to see a doctor is 24 days and growing. And the U.S. is expecting to see a shortage of as many as 120,000 physicians by 2032 with a shortage of up to 55,000 primary care physicians in particular.
GoodRx Care is connecting patients with or without insurance to board-certified physicians who provide an array of primary care services, including lab testing, refills of preventive and chronic medications, and the treatment for acute medical conditions. The services include birth control, smoking cessation, erectile dysfunction, urinary tract infections, etc. And most visits are only $20 (lab tests have additional fees). After patients are prescribed a medication by a doctor through GoodRx Care, GoodRx will provide pharmacy discounts for the lowest prices available. However, GoodRx does not sell any medications itself.
In the last couple of years, HeyDoctor had conducted over 100,000 consultations. And GoodRx Care users will be able to consult with a physician — who can prescribe medications and combine it with GoodRx coupons to the pharmacy of choice for its users. By getting involved in telemedicine, GoodRx is essentially gaining more access to the needs of a patient. Currently, GoodRx has 10 million monthly users.
GoodRx is not the only company in the space that offers telemedicine and drug delivery services. Roman and Hims also offers a combination of those services. Plus CVS partnered with Teladoc in order to provide telemedicine services as well.
“Over the years, we’ve helped millions of Americans find affordable solutions for their prescription medications, but we’ve also learned that many people struggle to get to the doctor,” said GoodRx co-founder and co-CEO Doug Hirsch. “In an increasingly fragmented and confusing healthcare system, our goal is to provide a one-stop shop for services that address most basic healthcare needs.”
As of last year, over 27.5 million Americas did not have health insurance. And as healthcare costs continue to rise and many insurance plans cover fewer services than they did a year ago, consumers have been looking for affordable options for their routine health needs. Americans with and without health insurance saved over $14 billion using GoodRx. And more than $5 billion was saved in 2019 alone.
