This N.L. virtual care company is questioning government's decision to pick American group instead
Dr. Todd Young says his company, Medicuro, would have been a cheaper option
A central Newfoundland doctor whose company lost out on a contract to provide virtual care in the province is wondering why an outside company was chosen instead of his group of local doctors.
Dr. Todd Young of Springdale is the medical director of Medicuro, a company that brands itself as Newfoundland and Labrador's first virtual health-care clinic. The company bid on the provincial government's proposal to provide virtual care to residents, but the province chose American-based Teladoc Health instead.
The contract with Teladoc is worth $22 million over two years. Young told CBC News his bid would have cost $3.5 million per year, and hopes to get answers in the future as to why Teladoc was chosen.
"When I look at the [request for proposals] and reflect on it, there may be a couple of reasons. First, we were a smaller company and maybe there wasn't confidence that we would be able to handle that," Young said Monday.
"I think that we could have. I wouldn't have put a bid in if I didn't think that we were able."
Young says another reason Medicuro wasn't chosen might be that many of the physicians working in the company are already based in Newfoundland. He said that could be perceived as exhausting existing resources in the health-care system.
Teladoc's work will address gaps in care, he says, but a local touch would have been better.
"I liken it to a small corner store in a small town in Newfoundland, and then Walmart moves in," he said.
"When we look at corporate America and how health care is delivered there, there has to be drastic differences.… I'm sure they'll be able to provide the service, but, again, they have shareholders to make happy."
While Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says it can't comment on specific cases like Young's, spokesperson Tracey Boland said each proposal went through a rigorous evaluation process conducted by a panel of experts and was evaluated based on a company's finances and a demonstration.
Part of that process included the ability to provide virtual health care, emergency room care and urgent care services, a statement from Boland added, and provide a "technical solution and human resources to support the continuation of services during clinician shortages.
"As Teladoc scored the highest on the comprehensive RFP evaluation process, it was awarded the contract," Boland wrote in a statement to CBC News. "We are in the process of contacting all vendors who submitted proposals for a debrief.
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With files from CBC Newfoundland Morning
