THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
How virtual care is connecting care for lives in motion across cities, seasons and schedules
Ethan Berke, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, SVP Integrated Care, Teladoc Health
Professional athletes live in a world defined by movement, intensity and constant change. Their careers demand peak physical and mental performance and require frequent travel, irregular schedules, transitions between cities and time away from home. While their lifestyles are elite, the care challenges they face are far from unique. More people are navigating similarly complex lives, from employees who travel frequently and families who relocate to caregivers coordinating care across geographies.
Through our new partnership with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Teladoc Health has been named the Preferred Virtual Care Provider for active and retired NBA players and their families, providing preferred access to our multidisciplinary virtual services, including primary care, 24/7 urgent care, preventive health screenings, and more. The partnership is designed to deliver comprehensive, flexible care that fits the realities of professional sports: care at home, on the road, during the season and through the many transitions that define a player’s career and family life. It also offers a blueprint for how care models can better align with how people actually live.
Traditional healthcare models were built around stability. They often assume patients live in one place, see one provider network and access care episodically. But that model can break down when life becomes more dynamic. When people move, change jobs or teams, travel regularly or shift between home and the road, their care should not reset. It should move with them, helping avoid delayed treatment, disrupted care plans and incomplete clinical information.
This is why Teladoc Health is committed to meeting people where they are. We can deliver care that is not only accessible, but also consistent across time, locations, conditions and life transitions. For professional athletes and their families, that means a system of care that keeps pace with real routines, whether they are at home, traveling, in-season or adjusting to a new chapter after retirement.
From a clinical standpoint, continuity matters because it improves decision-making, builds trust and improves outcomes. When providers have a longitudinal view of a patient’s history, risks, medications and prior interventions, care becomes more proactive and less duplicative. Patients then spend less time repeating their history, and clinicians can spend more time delivering care that is informed and timely.
That same continuity matters for the whole family. Spouses and children often experience the same disruption that comes with travel, moves and career transitions, yet they should not have to start over with new providers every time life changes. And for the partner managing their children’s and their own health needs while a player is on the road, virtual care offers a more convenient way to stay on top of it all. Flexible virtual care models help families maintain trusted access to care across geographies, making support feel more consistent even when daily life is anything but.
Health is never one-dimensional. Physical health, behavioral health, sleep, nutrition, preventive care and recovery all influence one another. Yet patients are often asked to navigate these needs through disconnected systems that are not designed around the realities of modern life. That fragmentation creates friction for everyone, but especially for people whose schedules leave little room for inefficiency or repetition.
Clinically, integrated care matters because it helps us see a more complete view of a person’s health. A mental health concern may affect sleep, adherence, recovery or a chronic condition. Nutrition may influence cardiometabolic risk. A missed preventive screening can mean a delayed diagnosis. When care is connected across needs, clinicians are better positioned to identify patterns earlier, coordinate next steps and intervene before small issues become more serious ones.
Through the NBPA partnership, players and their families can access services including providing preferred access to our multidisciplinary virtual services, including primary care, 24/7 urgent care, preventive health screenings, and more. The goal is not simply to make care more convenient, but to make it coordinated, informed, and easier to use across the different health needs that arise in real life.
Innovation often begins with the most demanding use cases. While professional athletes are an elite population, they are individuals with needs that extend beyond sports. Their stories are grounded in familiar realities: maintaining routines while traveling, caring for family members during a move, addressing a health concern in the middle of a demanding season or finding support during a transition. When we build systems that maintain continuity, coordination and preventive support for people whose lives are constantly in motion, we can build better systems for employees, caregivers, families and patients managing chronic conditions.
The broader opportunity with the NBPA partnership is to show what healthcare can look like when it is connected, flexible, accessible and grounded in sound clinical judgment. We are committed to delivering better care for all: care that moves with people, supports the people closest to them and creates a more seamless experience across the moments when health matters most.
