“Area Doctors to Treat Patient’s Online”
Just as the physician’s office once replaced the house call, the computer screen is now poised to replace the office visit. Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the largest local insurance companies, plans to introduce online care this year, a service that allows patients to connect with a physician on demand 24 hours a day using webcams for video links, secure text messages or telephone conversations. Patients will be able to talk from their home, workplace or anywhere else with a computer connection to one of hundreds of primary care doctors. Similar to ebay.com, patients will be allowed to rate each encounter.
This marketing strategy shift from brick and mortar to an online model is seen by advocates as a way to address a shortage of physicians who provide basic medical care and the long waits for appointments, reduce unnecessary trips to hospital emergency rooms and help patients with chronic illnesses and multiple medications better manage their conditions1.
American Well is the Boston based technology company that has partnered with various health plans, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield, to deliver this technology. Many Americans are would-be prospects for online care. Half say they would be interested in using the Internet not only as an information source but to receive healthcare directly, according to a recent survey by an arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers2.
Receiving health care directly could be in the form of a telephone call, text message or a “cybervisit”. Managed Care Magazine explains in further detail exactly what a “cybervisit” is: Cybervisits are internet analogs of house calls that can take place at work, on vacation, or anywhere there is computer access. Patients log into health plan Web sites. If they do not have webcams for a video linkup, they can use secure text messages or telephone conversations connected though a secure system. Once a patient calls in, the selected physician has 30 to 45 seconds to respond or the patient is redirected to another physician. The standard charge typically buys a 10-minute visit that can be extended for an additional fee. Doctors can file non-narcotic prescriptions online for patients to retrieve at 24-hour pharmacies. And when the call ends, the patient has the option to forward a transcript of the visit to his or her usual doctor3.
This topic is a very interesting e-marketing topic because we are able to see the paradigm shift of how medicine is being delivered before our very eyes. While cyber visits will never fully replace a traditional hospital stay, they will serve as a welcome reprieve to anyone wishing to connect online in hopes of receiving immediate care. In fact, online care seems the only logical step in our society that continues to seek immediate gratification. Furthermore, not only are we witnessing the medium in which care is delivered change, we will likely also see doctors begin to market themselves online in hopes that patients seek them out as opposed to a competitor.
It will also be very interesting to see how this shift to online medicine will affect related industries such as the brick and mortar physician offices. While brick and mortar physician’s office certainly will not become extinct, there is a probability that they will experience a decline in utilization as more and more people begin to adopt online care. The health insurance companies will also be inevitably affected as they will realize a decrease in the claims paid, since a ten minute cyber visit costs significantly less than an in person office visit. In addition, companies like skype will be positively affected as more and more online care patients will turn to skype to contact their physician.
1. Davis, Henry L. “Area Doctors to Treat Patient’s Online” The Buffalo News. March 10, 2010. http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article37915.ece
2. Johnson, Megan. “Visiting Your Doctor Online is a Virtual Reality” US News and World Report. October 27, 2009. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/articles/2009/10/27/visiting-your-doctor-online-is-a-virtual-reality.html
3. Glabman, Maureen. “House Call Revival, Digital Style”. Managed Care Magazine. January 2010. http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/1001/1001.cybervisits.html
4. http://americanwell.com/index.html
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