Have you ever gone to the clinic for seasonal allergies, and then realized that you completely forgot to mention that itchy patch on your arm to the doctor before leaving his office?
When it’s a hassle to go to the doctor, to begin with, hardly anyone is eager to set up an additional appointment costing precious time and money to be seen again for 5 minutes.
There are many barriers that keep the average American from seeing the doctor regularly. What do you do when you cannot afford to spend the time or money on another in-office visit? Take a virtual visit to the doctor instead.
Here are the top 3 reasons patients use telemedicine:
1. Healthcare Costs
Among the top reasons that patients do not visit the doctor regularly are healthcare costs. Over half of Americans forgo seeing the doctor because of fear of healthcare costs.
According to the Healthcare Blue Book, the average doctor visit costs $100. Even when covered by insurance, this cost may not include co-pays, deductibles, the cost for drugs or lab tests. Most Americans do not have a regular doctor. When 40% of Americans cannot pay an emergency expense of $400, and one visit to see a doctor costs nearly a quarter of their savings, it is no wonder that the nation is choosing to opt-out of healthcare treatment.
Through Direct Primary Care, Direct Med Clinic’s innovative solution to this problem is a low-cost monthly membership to the clinic, where labs and more are done in-house. Essentially a subscription to the doctor, for only $79 per month. However, since virtual visits are included with the membership, the cost per virtual visit using our HIPAA compliant telemedicine smartphone app called Spruce goes down to $0.
What is Spruce?
Spruce is our telemedicine app that integrates your existing communication methods with new tools, such as secure text messaging, voicemail, and video chat, all in one app. You can even set-up appointments through Spruce visits. Communicating with the clinic has never been easier! Members can message us through the Spruce app to directly request an appointment, ask your provider questions, clarify existing treatment plans, refill prescriptions, and even get instant virtual care.
2. Transportation
People who live in rural or remote areas may have a tougher time getting access to a doctor. The average American spends about 10-12 minutes driving to the doctor. However, rural Americans spend can spend an average of 34 minutes getting to the nearest hospital. Considering time off work is limited and a challenge for both the employer and employee to work around, a solution is needed for patients unable to travel or get to the doctor.
There are also vacations, trips out of town, unexpected weather conditions, a car breaking down, a sick child, and other reasons why getting to the doctor may not be so easy.
Direct Med Clinic has a solution to the problem transportation may pose and is excited to bring convenience to your fingertips without even leaving your front door. Our telemedicine app Spruce allows you to text and video for instant communication, follow-up questions, and concerns. Now you don’t have to pay $100 to find out about the rash you forgot to ask about!
For medical emergencies, please call 911. For non-urgent matters during business hours, please message to expect a rapid response from our clinic.
3. Convenience
Texting and video calling are features nearly every smartphone has to make communication convenient, and telemedicine is now the newest convenience. Telemedicine enhances accessibility, saves money and makes visiting the doctor convenient. Patients are also able to have consistency with their medical staff by seeing the same healthcare providers from anywhere, even on the job!
Direct Med Clinic offers employers a way to reduce absenteeism and increase worker productivity through Spruce. Without Spruce, employees take time off from work during business hours to see a doctor or simply continue working sick or injured.
Our app Spruce should be utilized to its full potential in order to achieve maximum results. With the convenience and accessibility of the doctor through virtual visits, employers see less high-cost emergency and urgent care center claims. Absences resulting from illness are reduced because the doctor is able to diagnose, prescribe medication, and prevent a trip to the emergency room or urgent care center, a far more inexpensive alternative.
Even More Employer Convenience
With our Virtual Workers’ Comp Clinic, the doctor can handle 85% of problems, prevent recordable injuries, and decrease comp carrier utilization. By reducing wage costs associated with the interrupted workflow, employers eliminate the time and costs associated with hiring and training temporary staff.
Since Spruce allows live video chat, the doctor can do physical exams, ask questions, address concerns, and quickly diagnose simple conditions, cutting down healthcare costs and eliminating the need for transportation.
Compared to an in-office visit, members can save up to $120 each visit with a virtual trip to Direct Med Clinic. The visits can always be followed up with an in-office appointment, but the cost-effectiveness and time savings that come with using this telemedicine tool enhance the patient experience and efficiency of the visit.
More on Spruce
One feature of this telemedicine app is questionnaire capabilities. When a patient contacts Dr. Moczygemba or another member of the staff, the patient first fills out a questionnaire. This questionnaire lists common symptoms with checkboxes next to them. After clicking the symptoms that most correspond to what he or she is experiencing, the patient then has the ability to upload a photo or video with further visual information about the patient’s status or condition.
With Spruce, the doctor is able to determine whether the patient’s issue is major or minor, if he or she should come in for an in-office visit, and the doctor can also instruct the patient on how to take care of themselves until then. There is no hassle with insurance reimbursement from private insurance or Medicare because the service is included for free with membership.
Now, patients can reach their doctor instantaneously, and doctors can develop the most important doctor-patient relationship to encourage continuity while also making it easier to manage diseases. If the doctor is unable to be reached immediately, patients can send messages indicating whether they are urgent or non-urgent matters and can also leave a voicemail. Telemedicine lowers healthcare costs, eliminates transportation barriers, and is convenient!
What’s stopping you from using the telemedicine smartphone app Spruce?
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