Teladoc UK CEO Georgina Howe Discusses Telehealth’s Rise

Telehealth has moved from convenience to necessity for millions across Britain – and few people have a clearer view of that shift than Georgina Howe.

As CEO of Teladoc Health UK, she leads a business that connects primary and secondary care across more than 30 specialties, reaching over 40 million NHS patients through 24/7 GP access, mental health support, physiotherapy and specialist pathways for conditions ranging from dermatology to menopause and cancer. 

In a market where NHS backlogs and rising private insurance costs are reshaping how people access care, Teladoc has positioned itself as a scalable, employer-backed alternative.

Georgina works closely with clinical, technical and operational teams to keep care quality high while building a sustainable business for the future – and much of her focus now lies in how clients’ needs are evolving. 

"I've always been passionate about health and wellbeing, and what attracted me to Teladoc Health was both the strength of the people here and the opportunity to help shape how healthcare can become more accessible and better connected," she says.

Georgina shared insights with Healthcare Digital on telehealth demand, how virtual care delivery has shifted in recent years and where she sees remote care heading next.

Over the past 12 to 24 months, how has telehealth demand changed?

Demand has definitely grown, but the more interesting change is why. NHS waiting lists have come down from their peak, but they remain higher than they were before the pandemic. 

Alongside that, private medical insurance keeps getting more expensive and employers are looking more critically at what they're actually getting for the money they spend.

As a result, virtual care has moved from being a convenient extra to being part of how a lot of people get seen at all.

One shift we can quantify is how people interact with our services.

Around 92% of our users now use digital channels for the administrative side of their care, such as accessing and booking services, with only a small minority preferring to contact us by phone. 

That reflects a broader expectation that accessing healthcare should be simple and convenient.

Healthcare is different from many other services, of course, because people are often coming to us at a point when they are worried or vulnerable. But that makes removing unnecessary friction even more important.

What is the current split between video, audio-only and messaging-based care?

Our approach is patient preference first. There can sometimes be an assumption that virtual healthcare naturally means video, but that isn’t necessarily what patients always want.

If you are feeling unwell, you may simply prefer to speak to a doctor rather than appear on camera, and for many consultations there is no clinical need for the patient to be seen. 

Equally, there are patients who prefer video and have symptoms where being able to see something can help the clinician, so it is important that the right options are available.

We’re also responding to feedback from patients who want more flexibility in how they interact with a GP.

We’re aiming to introduce GP chat by the end of the year, giving patients the option to interact asynchronously where that is appropriate. 

Ultimately, the technology should adapt around the patient and the type of care they need, rather than expecting every patient to interact in the same way.

Which specialities or use cases are generating the highest telehealth volume right now?

Our GP service is dominated by everyday high-frequency issues rather than anything unusual, and the top of the list is abdominal pain, sore throats and skin complaints. On the mental health side it's anxiety, low mood and depression, relationship issues and stress. 

These are everyday health issues, but they can have a significant impact on people’s ability to stay well and remain at work.

Traditional private medical insurance has historically been more focused on acute episodes of care, which can leave a gap around some of the health concerns people are managing day to day.

That is why we have a broad ecosystem of services to include areas such as physiotherapy, nutrition and menopause support alongside GP and mental health services. If we want to support people’s health effectively, we need to look beyond acute care and consider the issues that can affect them every day.

Have you noticed changes in how patients choose to access care?

The clearest change is that the app has become the main way people come to us, rather than the phone.

Healthcare has historically been slower than many other consumer-facing industries to prioritise user experience. That gap is now closing, and behaviour is following it. 

We deliberately design our journey around the kind of booking experiences people are used to elsewhere rather than around traditional healthcare processes, and it is consistently one of the things patients give us the most positive feedback on.

What people prioritise is speed, with the majority booking the first available appointment.

That tells you that when something is worrying or bothering someone about their health, they value getting advice quickly, so our focus is on using dynamic capacity planning to let people get to a clinician as quickly as possible.

Is AI being used at all to optimise virtual care delivery?

AI already plays a role in how we operate, from how we analyse data to the tools that support our clinical and operational teams.

It is not something we see as separate from the way we deliver care, but as one of a number of technologies that can help us work more effectively.

There are areas where AI can be particularly valuable, such as supporting documentation and triage, but it should support clinical decision-making rather than replace it. The judgement, responsibility and accountability for a patient’s care must remain with the clinician.

Looking ahead 12 to 18 months, where do you expect the next wave of telehealth growth to come from, and why?

The next phase of growth is likely to come from virtual care becoming more integrated into the wider healthcare journey, rather than being seen primarily as a standalone GP service. 

The focus is increasingly shifting from access and convenience alone towards how virtual care can support better outcomes and a more connected experience for patients. 

This will mean less of a distinction between virtual and in-person care, and more focus on the right way to meet a patient’s needs at each point in their journey.

We are also seeing employers look more closely at the value their healthcare services are delivering – not simply how many appointments are being used, but whether people are getting the right support and seeing their health improve. 

That creates an opportunity for virtual care to play a broader role across areas such as primary care, mental health, physiotherapy and other everyday health needs, with services working more effectively together.