Telecom giant Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) took one more step in establishing itself as a leading e-health service provider by announcing the acquisition of Everywhere Healthcare. The network of 1,600 general practitioners is part of Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) and provides access to specialist care via video consultations through regular GPs.
For patients who have difficulty travelling or don't have immediate access to necessary healthcare, the consultations can save much time, effort and money.
Telstra's group executive retail Gordon Ballantyne told Fairfax media that video consultation with specialist healthcare professionals is a huge growth area.
Within the past two years, Telstra has made quite a number of acquisitions of companies that use high-speed telecommunications to bring healthcare to more people and improve the service given.
It was only last week Telstra made another acquisition of UK-based data analytics company Dr Foster. This company makes software for medical professionals to improve work performance of medical staff and is the leader in health informatics in the UK.
Telstra's e-health business division was renamed to Telstra Health and now is made up of more than 10 businesses covering different aspects of e-health service provision, data management and software systems. The demand for healthcare is always growing, so Telstra can put its vast telecommunications expertise and ample development funds to good use in this field.
Previously, Mr. Ballantyne projected Telstra Health will make up a substantial part of Telstra's total business within five years and potentially catch up with Telstra's other major grow area- network application services. NAS provides cloud computing applications and business enterprise services in a rapidly expanding industry.
Telstra is reshaping its business into these two high-demand areas to maintain growth over the long term. The stock pays a 4.7% yield fully franked and the company has a long record of stable dividend payment. As such, Telstra can be a solid part of a long-term investment portfolio.
