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Online mental health visits are driving telehealth use: Pharma companies and healthcare providers should consider partnering with psychotherapy providers to offer mental health patients more options than meds alone.

Eli Lilly sues telehealth companies over compounded weight loss drugs: Lilly is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to building a legal case to prevent compounded tirzepatide from being prescribed and sold.

Lawmakers investigate telehealth tie-ups with pharma: Despite more scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, we expect even more Big Pharma D2C launches this year.

Healthcare stakeholders push Congress to make Medicare coverage of telehealth permanent: It鈥檚 set to expire at the end of March. We explore what鈥檚 at stake for seniors, many of whom are used to getting care remotely.

Rapidly growing healthcare providers are reinvesting in online marketing: Incumbents must embrace social and search marketing to ward off competition from telehealth and D2C providers.

Eli Lilly adds Alzheimer鈥檚 treatments, resources to D2C platform: Lilly is progressing its D2C online offerings even as lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of drugmaker-telehealth partnerships.

Use of digital health tools varies across generations: Here鈥檚 what marketers need to know about how different age groups engage with telehealth, connected health devices, and health data-sharing activities.

础尘补锄辞苍鈥檚 telehealth service offers upfront pricing for Prime members: This puts it in direct competition with companies like Hims & Hers and Ro. Here鈥檚 why they should be worried.

Walgreens expands D2C telehealth to 30 states: We examine how the move aligns with Walgreens鈥� strategy to rightsize its retail pharmacy business.

Senators probe Pfizer, Eli Lilly about their D2C telehealth platforms: But we don鈥檛 expect a slowdown in Big Pharma鈥檚 push into direct-to-consumer sales. Here鈥檚 why.

Some health systems scale back telehealth offerings: But trimming virtual care too much may cause patients to flee to competing healthcare providers.

Biogen, Talkiatry offer services to patients with postpartum depression: We examine whether drugmaker-telehealth tie-ups are what鈥檚 best for patients.

颁辞苍蝉耻尘别谤蝉鈥� telehealth satisfaction varies from visit to visit: We explore the competitive telehealth market and examine how virtual care players are adapting to remain viable.

All eyes will now be on Novo鈥檚 rival Eli Lilly, which has similar deals with Ro, LifeMD, and other telehealth players to offer discounted Zepbound鈥攂ut who said earlier this month that it鈥檚 not affiliating with Hims. Stay tuned.

Novo is forging tie-ups with pharmacies instead of telehealth companies鈥攁 different D2C approach than Lilly鈥檚. This is an important distinction since most consumers get their prescriptions at a local pharmacy. Self-pay customers can get Lilly鈥檚 Zepbound at a discounted price, but only through Lilly鈥檚 D2C online platform or via telehealth companies the drugmaker partners with, like Ro or Sesame.

It just recently sued a few telehealth companies (not Hims) over allegedly instructing their providers to prescribe the knockoff versions. Lilly has collaborations with a range of telehealth providers through its LillyDirect D2C platform in which patients can get reduced-priced Zepbound. But Lilly could be turned off that Hims hasn鈥檛 committed to stop prescribing compounded medications.

Amazon will sell GLP-1s through its D2C telehealth business. The ecommerce giant recently rolled out fixed monthly pricing for Prime members to access telehealth visits and treatments for conditions such as skincare, hair loss, and erectile dysfunction. Entering the weight loss drug market is a natural next step as Amazon pushes further into D2C healthcare.

The backstory: Amazon expanded its healthcare ambitions last year, adding same-day prescription drug delivery and integrating its D2C telehealth venture Amazon Clinic into One Medical. One Medical added pay-per-visit pricing of $29 for messaging appointments and $49 for video visits last year in direct competition with telehealth companies like Hims & Hers and Ro.

The FDA and FTC haven鈥檛 regulated telehealth companies and others that sell compounded weight loss drugs as closely as drugmakers themselves. That could change now that Big Pharma鈥檚 brand-name GLP-1s are available again and regulators ramp up scrutiny of companies advertising and selling copycat versions.

Zooming out: Consumers have grown comfortable with using a range of digital health tools, including patient portals (92%), telehealth (82%), pharmacy delivery services (67%), and at-home diagnostic testing kits (62%). Surveyed consumers believe healthcare technology improves engagement with physicians (77%) and is a cost-effective way to maintain their health (73%).

Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk have recently launched D2C models that involve partnerships with telehealth companies, direct sales of some pharma products, and online medication delivery.