Galileo Online Doctors Review

Breadth of Services

According to Galileo's website, the company's medical team can treat everything from "acne to Zenker’s diverticulum." The breadth of services the company provides is one way the telehealth provider stands out among many of its competitors who, while providing a valuable service, only treat a narrow range of conditions. Galileo takes a whole-health, multi-faceted approach to service that incorporates urgent care, chronic disease management, and healthy lifestyle concerns. Many customers use the service to receive prescription refills easily and inexpensively, without having to schedule a face-to-face doctor visit. However, if your Galileo provider feels it's necessary for you to have a physical examination, he or she can recommend a specialist near you. That's another stand-out feature of the service. Galileo physicians can order tests for patients and the Galileo app offers an easy way to request medical records from previous providers. As is the case with traditional medical care, giving Galileo physicians access to your medical records can help them provide safer, more effective treatment.

Professional Credentials and Licensures

Medical treatment through Galileo is provided by board-certified physicians and nurse practitioners exclusively. That's one distinguishing feature of the service, since many telehealth providers rely on physician assistants in addition to doctors to dispense treatment. We did note that once you have downloaded the app, you can read the profiles of about a dozen clinicians. 

Price

Galileo offers two ways to pay for its virtual care services: by subscription (membership) or by a single visit. On both accounts, the company's prices fall on the lower end of the spectrum. Individual visits cost $35 and monthly membership costs $13 ($99 annually). That's a pretty small price to pay for a year's worth of healthcare, virtual or otherwise. Membership entitles patients to unlimited texting with Galileo physicians. Membership does not include phone calls, but a video visit for a patient’s first encounter with Galileo may be requested in states where this is required.

Customer Experience

Galileo's website is well-organized and friendly. The company does a good job of explaining what its providers can and cannot treat. Pricing is very transparent and available with one click from the Galileo homepage. The company's FAQ section could be more informative—it did leave a few of our questions unanswered. For example, it wasn't entirely clear how virtual appointments are conducted through the service. It turns out patients can access care via text or video, but we had to infer that information from its informed consent form. It should be noted that all treatment is provided through Galileo's mobile app. You can't access care from your desktop, laptop, or tablet. The service may not be ideal for patients who are not very comfortable with their mobile devices. To get started with Galileo, you must first download the Galileo app.

Galileo, Inc. is not rated by the Better Business Bureau and there are no customer reviews of the service on Trustpilot. So we turned to reviews on the Apple App Store and on Google Play to hear what patients are saying about the service. The Galileo app is highly rated by both iOS and Android users, earning 4.5 stars from both constituencies. There were many glowing reviews. Negative reviews focused mainly on the speed of service provided by Galileo. It appears that, while you can contact the company 24/7, provider response time can run into several or more hours. Galileo is diligent about responding to user complaints and appears to make frequent updates to its app. But it may just be that the company has too few affiliated physicians to manage its patient volume, which has undoubtedly increased since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.