Teladoc

I have been using Teladoc services for several months, and within the last two months I've noticed a sharp decline in service. The wait times for callbacks have increased from 10 minutes to 2 hours... and in some cases much more than that. Teladoc Customer Service explains this increase as a natural result of COVID and natural disasters on the West Coast, but these two factors have combined as part of the landscape for almost 2 years.

I did some additional digging. Since I have business associates in the telemedicine industry, I asked them for their insights. The explanations I received surprised me. I was told that many of the Providers who had been working for Teladoc had decided to go elsewhere... either for better pay or for better environment. I was told there are a handful of states that DO NOT have Teladoc physicians... and Providers are NOT allowed to cross state lines.

This was especially evident to an associate of mine in New Mexico... and associate who told me NM has no Teladoc doctors currently. I asked when that might be resolved, and the answer was "No one knows!" Other states like Wyoming and Idaho have the same problems. Residents in those states try to make scheduled consults — and they might even succeed at making a consult — but they won't be receiving a callback.

At this point, my only option is requesting a callback from an independent Provider... someone NOT affiliated with Teladoc or any telemed service. Many physicians are growing their businesses this way. It seems logical.