By Param Singh | :icon-linkedin: Linkedin | :x_logo: X.com |

Big thanks to razi syed and Joshua Wensley for shaping my learning.

US Telemedicine Research Data

1. U.S. Telemedicine Market — Size & Direction
1. Major U.S. Players — Positioning & Bets
1. Government & Integrated Systems — Scale Signals
1. What the U.S. Telemedicine Market Is Competing On (Practical Axes)
1. Who’s winning on growth (US telemedicine scoreboard)

https://investors.hims.com/news/news-details/2025/Hims--Hers-Health-Inc--Reports-Third-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx

Pharma and Telemedicine Trends

1. Direct-to-Consumer Drug Shift
2. The End of the Primary Care Monopoly
3. Rise of the Unregulated Parallel Market
4. Pharma’s Strategic Blind Spot
5. The K-Shaped Future of Pharma

The Imperative for Reinvention

To stay relevant, pharma and telemedicine Co’s must:

Build direct relationships with consumers, not just prescribers.
Learn retail pricing discipline, or risk mass substitution by compounded or generic alternatives.
Rethink its identity—not as a B2B supplier to healthcare systems, but as a brand in a competitive consumer market. </aside>

Questions to guide a longevity startup’s next moves

How are you positioning yourself on the trajectory of model improvement?

The models are already outperforming doctors. End of next year there will be no doubt given clear data, the models are better at diagnosing. Clinicians will have their place as physical assesors, AI agents will ultimately triage the decision.

Market position – Do you define yourself as a clinical service, a consumer wellness brand, or a data company—and which identity earns trust and scale fastest in AUS/US regulatory climate?
Pricing physics – What is the lowest viable entry point that still signals medical credibility?
Distribution – rely on DTC marketing or shift toward employer and insurer rails to stabilize CAC as others did in the U.S.?
Data advantage – How can longitudinal biomarker data become a feedback loop that improves accuracy, retention, and partnerships rather than a passive record?
Defensibility – When GLP-1s and weight programs become commodities, what moat does your startup build—clinical AI, data outcomes, or network effects across diagnostics providers? </aside>

Growth Directions

Members don’t want more data, they want to know how to improve their health

Lean more into AI based guidance plans (note: off recommendations only when explaining test results ➝try to tie into a cohesive journey)
Own the wellness journey with AI checkins, integrating into the app a more unified data store of nutrition, lifestyle data, CGM etc.
Make it feel more integrated by getting the AI to recommend clinician checkins. ie. “Based on your recent biomarkers and nutrition patterns, it’s the right moment for a quick review with Dr Sam, our dietitian.” </aside>

Lower barrier to entry

Control what services are unlocked by what month, protect your operational costs. This way you don’t eat costs on services if they cancel soon after.
Keep stickyness through a platform that revolves around AI concierge. The data is just data, the ongoing recommendation and lifestyle involvement is what keeps it sticky inbetween month to month. </aside>

Proving outcomes: Track movement through website, A/B test different funnel wording, Program adherence (+ checkins and engagement in app), and biomarker improvement in labs.

Telling the story: Own the holiday season, highly competitive, what community activations can be done (run clubs, health wellness communities), drive social media mind share.

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