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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs Medscape

Included Health logo

Included Health

Healthcare

Care navigation and virtual care in one contract for self funded employers and health plans

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Medscape logo

Medscape

Healthcare

Medical information, education, and news for healthcare professionals

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Medscape has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Included Health owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.; Medscape medscape is free to use but requires mandatory account registration through profreg.medscape.com and login before content can be viewed; the site describes itself as 'a free resource for physicians', restricting the intended audience to registered healthcare professionals rather than the general public (31 Dec 2020 archive capture).
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, Medscape covers Medical News.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Included Health and Medscape actually diverge.

Attributes where Included Health and Medscape differ
AttributeIncluded HealthMedscape
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Mobile
FoundedUnknown1996

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Included Health

  • Care navigation
  • Provider quality steerage
  • Expert medical opinion
  • Virtual primary care
  • Virtual behavioural health
  • Virtual urgent care
  • Benefits integration
  • Employer reporting

Only in Medscape

  • Medical News
  • Drug Database
  • Medical Calculators
  • CME Courses
  • Disease Information
  • Specialty Content
  • EHR Systems
  • HIPAA

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Included Health

  • A large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisionsnot Medscape
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot Medscape
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot Medscape
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot Medscape

Medscape

  • Patient Carenot Included Health
  • Medical Recordsnot Included Health
  • Practice Managementnot Included Health
  • Telehealthnot Included Health

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Included Health

  • Owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.
  • Pricing is per employee per month across the whole eligible population, so a plan with low navigation engagement pays for everyone to serve the minority who call.
  • Savings claims rest on avoided costs and changed referral decisions, which are counterfactual by nature, so performance guarantees need very careful definition or they measure activity rather than money.
  • The company is a merger of three organisations with different origins, and members and benefits teams still encounter seams between navigation, virtual primary care and behavioural health that the single brand implies are absent.
  • It sells primarily to large self funded employers, so mid market employers and fully insured plans find both the pricing and the implementation effort disproportionate to their size.

Medscape

  • Medscape is free to use but requires mandatory account registration through profreg.medscape.com and login before content can be viewed; the site describes itself as 'a free resource for physicians', restricting the intended audience to registered healthcare professionals rather than the general public (31 Dec 2020 archive capture).

Pricing, plan by plan

Included Health

On request
  • Included Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Navigation and virtual care modules priced separately or bundled
    • Some components offered with performance guarantees tied to measured savings

Medscape

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Medical news
    • Drug database
    • CME

Which should you pick?

Choose Included Health if

  • You need care navigation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want provider quality steerage.
Included Health review

Choose Medscape if

  • You need medical news.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want drug database.
Medscape review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or Medscape better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and Medscape at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Included Health or Medscape?
Medscape has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Included Health and Free for Medscape.
Does Included Health or Medscape run on more platforms?
Included Health runs on Web, iOS, Android. Medscape runs on Web, Mobile.
Can I use Medscape for free?
Yes. Medscape has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Included Health starts at On request.
What is Included Health best used for?
Included Health is most often used for a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions, an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for, a self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programme, an employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experience. Of those, a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions and an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for are not what Medscape is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that Medscape cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. Medscape covers Medical News, Drug Database, Medical Calculators, CME Courses.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Included Health: What exactly is Included Health?

The combination of Grand Rounds Health navigation, Doctor On Demand virtual care and the original Included Health concierge service, operating under one brand since late 2021.

Included Health: Who pays for it?

The self funded employer or the health plan pays a per employee per month fee. Virtual care visits may also carry member cost sharing depending on plan design.

Included Health: Is there a minimum size?

No published minimum, but it sells primarily to large self funded employers and the pricing and implementation effort do not suit small organisations.

Included Health: How does it recommend providers?

Through data driven quality analysis rather than a plain directory. Ask specifically how those recommendations are produced and how often they resolve to the company own virtual clinicians.

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