MDLIVE Alternatives for Employers
MDLIVE often arrives bundled through the carrier, which makes it the default rather than a decision. When employers evaluate alternatives on the merits, the questions are the same ones that apply to any virtual-only platform: will members actually use it, and what happens when a visit needs a test? On MDLIVE, lab work means a trip to a contracted Quest or LabCorp location. Here's the field.
EZaccessMD
That’s usAn employer-sponsored benefit that pairs 24/7 telehealth with in-home diagnostics: when the physician needs more than a phone call, a medical technician brings rapid tests, labs, X-ray, ultrasound, and EKG to the member's home or workplace. Utilization-based PEPM with a renewal credit if usage runs below plan, $0 copay for members with the whole family included (no dependent limit), virtual mental health at no additional cost, and utilization around 75% across our book, because visits actually get resolved.
Best for: Employers who want everyday urgent episodes resolved at home instead of becoming urgent care and ER claims.
Teladoc Health
The biggest name in virtual care, with whole-person breadth: urgent care, primary care, chronic condition management, and behavioral health including the BetterHelp network. Scale and integrations are its strengths; visits are phone or video, labs and imaging are ordered out to facilities, and its one at-home product is a self-collection screening kit.
Best for: Large organizations that want maximum breadth on one virtual platform.
Amwell
A telehealth platform with two decades in the market, widely used by health plans and systems, with behavioral health depth spanning therapy, psychiatry, and digital programs. Care is virtual: its own urgent care pages note that doctors on the platform are not able to order lab tests, so diagnostic needs are referred to in-person providers.
Best for: Plans and employers standardizing on a proven virtual-care platform.
First Stop Health
An employer-focused telehealth benefit with virtual urgent care, virtual primary care, and mental health care, known for funded engagement campaigns and engagement well above virtual-only norms. Care is delivered by app, website, or phone.
Best for: Employers who want a straightforward, employer-first virtual-care benefit.
Included Health
Care navigation plus virtual-first care: advocacy that guides members through billing, benefits, and complex episodes, layered with virtual primary, urgent, and behavioral care, and strong published engagement. It steers care well; in-person needs are referred to local in-network providers rather than delivered.
Best for: Large employers that want navigation and advocacy across the whole benefit stack.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do employers look for MDLIVE alternatives?
- MDLIVE is frequently adopted by default through a carrier relationship. Employers shopping alternatives usually want higher engagement than a bundled telehealth line achieves, or a benefit that can resolve a visit when it needs labs or imaging rather than sending the member to a lab location.
- Do these alternatives integrate with our health plan?
- The virtual platforms (Teladoc, Amwell, First Stop Health) and navigation models (Included Health) sell alongside or through plans. EZaccessMD is plan-independent by design: a utilization-priced benefit whose visits never touch the plan's claims.
- Which alternative has the highest utilization?
- EZaccessMD's utilization runs around 75% across our book, versus the 10-15% typical of telehealth-only benefits. The difference comes from resolving visits at home, with in-home diagnostics at a $0 copay, rather than referring members out when a test is needed.