SOC Telemed Expands Partnership with UnityPoint Health to Scale Telemedicine Solution and Increase Access to Behavioral Health Specialists

RESTON, Va., Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SOC Telemed (NASDAQ: TLMD), the largest national provider of acute care telemedicine, today announced an expansion of its partnership with UnityPoint Health from three hospitals to an additional four hospitals across two markets.

Based on the success over the past three years working with SOC Telemed, UnityPoint Health is expanding its telePsychiatry services, adding the Telemed IQ telemedicine platform and SOC-provided psychiatrists to four additional hospitals. In Des Moines, Iowa, additional hospitals include Iowa Methodist Medical, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Methodist West Hospital. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it includes St. Luke's Hospital. SOC Telemed will go live with telePsychiatry services for UnityPoint Health in the second half of 2021 in both markets.

SOC Telemed's relationship with UnityPoint Health began in 2018 at Allen Hospital, a not-for-profit community hospital located in Waterloo, Iowa. The facility used Telemed IQ, SOC Telemed's telemedicine platform, to drive their enterprise telePsychiatry solution, resulting in improved psychiatric care, including reduced length of stay, improved throughput in the emergency department and a substantial ROI for the hospital.

"Our successful partnership with SOC Telemed at Allen Hospital showed that we could help alleviate the stress placed on our other facilities," said Calvin Heller, Director, Telehealth, UnityPoint Health. "SOC Telemed is a helpful morale booster to our doctors and nurses while also providing best-in-class care for our patients."

Prior to implementing SOC Telemed's enterprise solution, Allen Hospital had one full-time psychiatrist staffing its 21-bed behavioral health unit. Patients requiring mental health evaluations faced extended wait times.

The SOC Telemed and Allen Hospital partnership produced dramatic results:

• Average length of stay for mental health patients fell 11.87 hours^[1]
• Allen Hospital avoided more than $1.7 million in annualized boarding costs
• Implementation of the SOC Telemed enterprise telemedicine solution resulted in an annual ROI of 281% ^[2]

"UnityPoint Health's multi-site expansion of our relationship illustrates the value a partnership with SOC Telemed can deliver, as together we have helped improve both patient and provider experience," said Ron Egan, Chief Customer Officer, SOC Telemed. "Across the nation, our hospital partners face the increasingly difficult challenge of caring for patients as utilization is up while access to specialty physicians declines. We are confident the combination of our highly secure Telemed IQ platform and the breadth and strength of our clinical solutions will ensure we remain the acute care partner of choice."

^[1] These results are based on a comparison of the 12-month period prior to implementing telePsychiatry to the 21-month period post-implementation of telePsychiatry. 
 ^[2] The ROI calculation is based solely on a reduction in patient boarding costs.

About SOC Telemed
SOC Telemed (NASDAQ: TLMD) is the leading national provider of acute telemedicine technology and solutions to hospitals, health systems, post-acute providers, physician networks, and value-based care organizations since 2004. Built on proven and scalable infrastructure as an enterprise-wide solution, SOC Telemed's technology platform, Telemed IQ, rapidly deploys and seamlessly optimizes telemedicine programs across the continuum of care. SOC Telemed provides a supportive and dedicated partner presence, virtually delivering patient care through teleNeurology, telePsychiatry, teleCritical Care, telePulmonology, teleCardiology, teleInfectious Disease, teleNephrology, teleMaternal-Fetal Medicine and other service lines, enabling healthcare organizations to build sustainable telemedicine programs across clinical specialties. SOC Telemed enables organizations to enrich their care models and touch more lives by supplying healthcare teams with industry-leading solutions that drive improved clinical care, patient outcomes, and organizational health. The company was the first provider of acute clinical telemedicine services to earn The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval and has maintained that accreditation every year since inception. For more information, visit www.soctelemed.com.   

Media Relations: 
Lauren Shankman 
Trevelino/Keller 
[email protected] 

Investor Relations: 
Steve Rubis 
Vice President, Investor Relations 
SOC Telemed 
P: (571) 371-9209 
C: (214) 681-7991
[email protected]  

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SOURCE SOC Telemed