Capital BlueCross, a Harrisburg, Pa-based healthcare solutions and insurance company announced it will now offer telehealth visits its health plan members beginning Jan. 1, 2016. To deliver telehealth visits for its health plan members, Capital BlueCross has partnered with American Well to deliver Amwell, the nation’s largest telehealth service, to members. Amwell’s model contrasts with its competitors in that patients are connected face-to-face with a doctor in less than two minutes, instead of having to wait for a doctor to call them back after they request a consultation. Patients also can request an appointment with a specific telehealth doctor.
Using a computer, tablet or smartphone, the option will be especially convenient for customers when their doctor’s office is closed, when they are too sick or busy to attend an appointment in person, or when they are traveling out of town. Customers will be able to log on for telehealth appointments any time of day, every day of the year. During telehealth appointments, doctors can diagnose common conditions and even prescribe medication available for pick-up at a customer’s pharmacy of choice.
“Consumers value convenience more than ever before, and health care is no exception,” said Brooke Nordai, Capital BlueCross director of Product Innovation. “Connecting our customers with doctor visits by video is one more way we are changing health care for the better. Seeing a doctor will be as easy as signing on from a laptop or opening an app on your phone. More than just providing benefits, more than just paying claims, we are helping customers receive the care they need, when they need it, from wherever is most convenient for them.”
With a national network of telehealth doctors who are board certified, licensed and credentialed, Amwell was the first service to receive accreditation by the American Telemedicine Association.
