HealthTap Joins LillyDirect® to Expand Virtual Primary Care Access for Diabetes Management
HealthTap, a leading provider of virtual primary care services in the United States, has announced that it will now be featured as an independent care provider option on Eli Lilly and Company’s digital healthcare platform, LillyDirect®. This partnership marks a significant step toward enhancing patient access to primary care-driven diabetes management, integrating virtual medicine into the broader landscape of chronic disease care.
With this new collaboration, HealthTap becomes the first primary care telehealth practice accessible via LillyDirect®, allowing people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes—as well as those managing other chronic conditions—to easily establish and maintain long-term relationships with board-certified primary care physicians. The move underscores both companies’ shared goal of simplifying care coordination, improving health outcomes, and making high-quality medical guidance accessible beyond traditional clinical settings.
A New Avenue for Long-Term Diabetes Care
For millions of Americans managing diabetes, continuity of care and access to trusted medical professionals remain critical challenges. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects more than 38 million people in the United States, and the number continues to rise each year. Managing the disease effectively involves much more than prescribing medication—it requires ongoing monitoring, preventive care, and attention to coexisting conditions.
HealthTap’s inclusion on LillyDirect® gives patients a convenient, centralized way to connect with experienced doctors who understand the complexities of diabetes care. Through the HealthTap platform, patients can schedule comprehensive, 30-minute consultations—often available on the same day—and continue seeing the same doctor over time for a consistent and personalized care experience. Between visits, patients can also message their doctor directly, fostering a continuous relationship that mirrors the trusted dynamic found in traditional, in-person primary care.
Importantly, HealthTap maintains strict patient privacy standards. While some users will discover HealthTap through the LillyDirect® portal, physicians on the platform will not be informed whether a patient originated from LillyDirect® or joined HealthTap independently. This separation ensures that clinical interactions remain focused on patient care rather than referral sources.
Building a Foundation for Better Health Outcomes
“Primary care is the foundation of better health outcomes, especially for people managing chronic conditions like diabetes,” said Dr. Geoffrey Rutledge, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer at HealthTap. “Our virtual-first model makes it easier for patients to build long-term relationships with doctors who can oversee their full care journey, not just issue one-time prescriptions.”
Dr. Rutledge’s comments highlight a growing shift in healthcare: patients increasingly want integrated, ongoing relationships with physicians who can manage all aspects of their well-being—physical, emotional, and preventive. This comprehensive approach is especially important for chronic illnesses like diabetes, where treatment involves continuous assessment of blood glucose levels, lifestyle habits, and medication response.
HealthTap’s care model is designed to promote longitudinal, holistic engagement between patients and providers. The company reports that 96 percent of returning patients continue to see the same doctor, ensuring that medical guidance is informed by a patient’s complete history. Through annual wellness visits, proactive follow-up, and 365-day appointment availability, HealthTap provides the consistency necessary to prevent complications and detect issues early.
Supporting the Full Spectrum of Diabetes Management
Effective diabetes care often requires navigating a complex set of treatment options. While insulin remains a cornerstone for many patients, newer therapies such as GLP-1 receptor agonists—a class of drugs that includes several treatments developed by Lilly—have become increasingly central to managing both diabetes and obesity-related conditions.
However, initiating and maintaining these treatments often involves individualized adjustments, particularly when accounting for comorbidities like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or kidney issues. This is where a trusted primary care provider plays an indispensable role.
HealthTap’s physicians provide comprehensive support, including:
- Medication management, covering insulin and emerging diabetes therapies.
- Lab test reviews to monitor glucose levels, kidney function, and other biomarkers.
- Preventive and lifestyle care, focusing on nutrition, exercise, and weight management.
- Continuous communication, allowing patients to reach out between visits for quick questions or early symptom reporting.
By integrating these services into a virtual care model, HealthTap is helping patients manage diabetes more seamlessly—without the delays, travel time, or logistical barriers of in-person appointments.
Aligning with National Healthcare Priorities
The addition of HealthTap to LillyDirect® is part of a larger national trend toward modernizing care delivery. Policymakers, insurers, and healthcare organizations have increasingly recognized that expanding access to primary care is key to lowering healthcare costs and improving outcomes for people with chronic diseases.
Research consistently shows that patients who maintain an ongoing relationship with a primary care provider experience:
- Lower rates of hospitalization and emergency visits,
- Fewer disease complications, and
- Reduced overall healthcare spending over time.
Virtual care solutions like HealthTap extend these benefits to populations that have historically struggled to access consistent medical support—especially those in rural or underserved communities, where the shortage of primary care doctors is most acute.
Furthermore, the platform’s integration with LillyDirect® represents a new model of collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and telehealth providers, focused not on drug promotion, but on facilitating comprehensive patient care. The initiative demonstrates how digital platforms can act as bridges between patients, clinicians, and medication access services, creating an ecosystem that supports long-term health management.
Patient-Centered Care in the Digital Era
HealthTap’s virtual care infrastructure is built around one central principle: continuity breeds better outcomes. Unlike transactional telemedicine services that provide one-off consultations, HealthTap emphasizes sustained relationships between patients and physicians. Each user can choose a personal doctor, schedule routine appointments, and keep an ongoing dialogue that strengthens accountability and trust.
This approach is particularly beneficial for chronic diseases like diabetes, where subtle fluctuations in health indicators can signal the need for treatment changes. Regular communication between doctor and patient ensures that interventions happen early—often before complications arise.
Additionally, HealthTap’s digital platform provides educational resources and preventive care reminders, helping patients understand their conditions and adhere to treatment plans. In this way, the company promotes patient empowerment alongside medical oversight.
The Future of Virtual Primary Care Integration
As telehealth continues to evolve beyond urgent-care-style visits, HealthTap’s inclusion on LillyDirect® symbolizes the next stage in virtual care integration—where primary care, digital therapeutics, and pharmaceutical innovation intersect to support long-term wellness.
LillyDirect®, launched by Eli Lilly and Company, serves as a patient-centered digital portal connecting people with diabetes, obesity, and migraine conditions to educational tools, prescription access, and clinical resources. By adding HealthTap as a direct care option, Lilly enhances its platform’s ability to provide comprehensive support across the treatment continuum—from diagnosis to maintenance.
The collaboration underscores an industry-wide realization that managing chronic disease requires more than access to medication. It requires ongoing, relationship-driven primary care, supported by virtual tools that meet patients where they are.
A Shared Vision for Accessible, Sustainable Healthcare
Both HealthTap and Lilly share a mission to reduce the complexity of healthcare and make evidence-based treatment more accessible. By bridging pharmaceutical innovation with primary care connectivity, this initiative addresses one of the most pressing issues in modern medicine: ensuring that patients can easily access consistent, affordable, and coordinated care.
As the burden of chronic diseases like diabetes continues to grow, partnerships that combine the strengths of virtual care and pharmaceutical expertise are poised to redefine how healthcare is delivered. For patients, it means fewer barriers, more personalization, and a renewed sense of control over their health journey.
With HealthTap now featured on LillyDirect®, millions of Americans managing diabetes will have a simpler, more connected path to care—one where trusted relationships, digital access, and medical innovation come together to support better outcomes for years to come.
