Healing Smarter with AI

A New Era in Healthcare

Few companies are pushing the boundaries like Teladoc Health. With operations spanning over 120 countries and a workforce of more than 7,000 clinicians and providers, Teladoc has become a global leader in virtual healthcare. But their ambitions stretch far beyond just making telehealth accessible. The company is actively redefining how artificial intelligence can bridge the human and digital in patient care.

At the helm of this transformation is Claus Torp Jensen, Chief Innovation Officer and EVP of R&D. Jensen, a veteran of digital health modernization at CVS Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering, has become a vocal advocate for the practical, empathetic integration of AI in healthcare. 

His philosophy is rooted in the belief that true innovation is about applicability. “If you can find ways of applying either existing or borderline technologies in people's real lives, that is a meaningful innovation that matters to society,” he explains.

Jensen’s outlook isn’t built on hype. It’s grounded in decades of navigating the real challenges that healthcare systems face, from managing chronic conditions to addressing fragmented data ecosystems. His mission at Teladoc is not to chase futuristic visions but to make incremental, practical changes that immediately improve patients' lives.

Rethinking Traditional Care Models

Before Teladoc’s shift to intelligent automation, chronic care management was largely reactive. For conditions like diabetes, where day-to-day monitoring can be lifesaving, patients were often left without real-time support. “If you're a newly diagnosed diabetic,” Jensen notes, “one of the more dangerous things is that you don't actually know what it feels like when your blood sugar is out of whack, and it could be quite dangerous.”

The traditional system placed a heavy burden on patients to self-monitor, self-report, and self-escalate when something felt off. That model was inefficient and unsafe. Even when data was collected, such as blood glucose levels or blood pressure readings, the insights rarely flowed seamlessly to a care team in a timely manner. Medical interventions arrived late, often in emergency rooms, rather than early during manageable episodes.

Teladoc’s global reach also introduced complexity in managing a widely dispersed network of clinicians and compliance protocols. The logistics of scheduling, credentialing, and regulatory alignment across jurisdictions were manually intensive and prone to bottlenecks. For the company to fulfill its mission at scale, it needed to fundamentally modernize not only the patient experience but also the entire healthcare delivery system.

Traditional virtual visits lacked contextual awareness. The absence of nonverbal cues and environmental signals made it difficult for clinicians to gauge emotional distress or patient comprehension. “The thing about healthcare is people are not in a good place when they need help; it's very emotional and personal,” Jensen reminds us. This emotional gap often translated into missed signs of escalating crises or unmet patient needs.

Building an Intelligent Care Model

Teladoc’s AI strategy isn’t about removing humans from healthcare but augmenting them. The first step was integrating AI algorithms into its chronic care programs, starting with diabetes. By issuing connected blood glucose monitors and applying real-time anomaly detection, the platform can now alert care teams the moment something seems off. 

“What should happen,” Jensen explains, “is that there’s an algorithm somewhere that flags that there’s a new data point saying, ‘this individual on our program has low blood sugar, and we know this person is a newly diagnosed diabetic. Why don't we call them and see if they need help?’” That ability to shift from passive monitoring to active intervention marked a turning point. AI was no longer just analyzing; it was enabling action.

Behind the scenes, Teladoc also overhauled its operational backbone. A dynamic logistical engine now matches patients with licensed providers, taking into account geography, credentialing, language preference, and availability in real-time. AI and automation streamline scheduling and ensure compliance, freeing clinicians to focus on care.

But perhaps the most human-centered innovation lies in what Jensen calls "emotional intelligence for healthcare systems." Teladoc is exploring natural language processing and sentiment detection to recognize when a patient is distressed, confused, or disengaged during a virtual visit. These subtle signals, often lost in video consultations, can now be detected and flagged for clinicians to respond empathetically. “Our ability to actually help whoever is in contact with you detect the emotional cues of ‘is this person getting increasingly distressed?’ is actually a meaningful power-up of a system,” he says.

Transformative Outcomes

The results of these changes have been significant. With AI-enhanced monitoring, Teladoc has significantly improved early intervention for patients with chronic care, reducing emergency visits and enhancing medication adherence. Clinicians now receive actionable insights rather than raw data, enabling them to provide more personalized and efficient care.

Patients feel more supported and less isolated. Instead of being left alone with confusing devices and numbers, they’re part of a continuous care loop where someone is always watching and ready to help. For new diabetics, this safety net can be lifesaving.

Operationally, Teladoc can now handle a higher volume of virtual visits without sacrificing quality. The logistical engine optimizes provider allocation across time zones and regulatory boundaries, supporting global scale with local precision.

Critically, emotional intelligence capabilities are closing the empathy gap in virtual care. By detecting distress and sentiment shifts, Teladoc is making virtual visits feel more human—something few tech-first platforms have achieved.

Looking Forward

Teladoc’s AI transformation is far from complete. Jensen envisions a future where healthcare systems not only respond to health problems but anticipate them. That means broader use of predictive analytics, behavioral modeling, and patient journey optimization.

“Innovation doesn’t come in one shape, size, or form,” he reiterates. “Sometimes it’s a big idea, sometimes it’s a small nudge.” The goal isn’t to dazzle patients with new gadgets but rather to meet them where they are, with the right support at the right moment.

For other healthcare leaders, Teladoc’s journey offers valuable lessons. Start with real-world problems. Use AI to extend, not replace, human care. And never lose sight of the emotional core of medicine.

As healthcare continues to digitize, Teladoc’s blend of empathy and intelligence sets a powerful precedent. Healing is no longer confined to clinics. With the right systems, it can happen anywhere.