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? 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, and EKG to the member's home or workplace. Flat PEPM for the employer, $0 copay for members, and utilization around 75% — 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 largest virtual-care platform, with whole-person breadth: urgent care, primary care, chronic condition management, and behavioral health (including BetterHelp). Scale and integrations are its strengths; care stays virtual.
Best for: Large organizations that want maximum breadth on one virtual platform.
Amwell
A major telehealth platform with strong virtual urgent care and behavioral health, widely used by health plans and systems. Like most virtual platforms, the visit ends where a physical test begins.
Best for: Plans and employers standardizing on a proven virtual-care platform.
First Stop Health
An employer-focused telehealth benefit with virtual urgent care and mental health, known for simple PEPM pricing and high engagement for a virtual-only offering.
Best for: Employers who want a straightforward, affordable virtual-care benefit.
Included Health
Care navigation plus virtual care: advocacy that guides members to the right provider, layered with virtual primary, urgent, and behavioral care. Strong for steering care; it doesn't deliver diagnostics itself.
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 referring the member onward.
- 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 flat-PEPM benefit whose visits never touch the plan's claims.
- Which alternative has the highest utilization?
- EZaccessMD's utilization runs around 75%, 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.