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Virtual Care. Anywhere

August 31, 2020

As we continue to move through the COVID-19 pandemic, all industries have had to make fast changes in order to meet the needs of consumers in a safe and effective way. The healthcare industry was at the forefront of this, and we made changes early on in the pandemic that will permanently alter how consumers receive care. One of the largest, most lasting changes, is the shift to virtual care and telemedicine.

In response to the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded access to Medicare telehealth services, allowing patients to receive a broader range of services from providers without traveling to an office, clinic or hospital.

It is important to note the difference between the terms "telemedicine" and "virtual care." Telemedicine refers to the treatment of medical conditions without seeing a patient in person. Virtual care, a broader term, refers to all the ways physicians and providers can interact with patients remotely, like video, audio, and instant messaging. To put it more simply, telemedicine is long-distance patient care, while virtual care is all the ways patients and doctors can use digital tools to communicate.

At Trinity Health Of New England, our Mission calls us to be "a transforming, healing presence within our communities." With our Mission in mind, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transformed and developed a comprehensive and sustainable virtual care strategy to meet the needs of our consumers. Our virtual care program is unique and has a variety of offerings:

    • An asynchronous platform for urgent care needs, like colds, flu, sinus infections, UTIs, pinkeye, and other minor conditions
    • A synchronous platform, offering video visits for primary care, family medicine and pediatrics. On this platform, multiple people, like other providers and family members, can participate when needed
    • Online, open scheduling of video visits
    • CareConnector, a 24/7 virtual assistant for health who can help with symptom screening, virtual visits, patient navigation, and getting questions answered.

Consumers of all ages have benefited from our comprehensive virtual care program and have reported their satisfaction with both the convenience and quality of care. As millennials have recently become the largest population segment, making up approximately 34% of the general population and about 21% of total health care spending¹, it is important to carefully consider this generation's preferences as we innovate and evolve. For millennials, convenience is a top priority and for routine care, they would rather interact with their health care providers virtually. Additionally, this generation will take the time to research and shop for the best and most convenient care, at the lowest cost.

Although convenience is an important consideration in the shift to virtual care, there are a number of other critical factors to keep in mind.

    • Access: virtual care provides increased access to care for all member of the community.
    • Environment: virtual care allows providers to see their patients in their home or workplace, helping the provider gain more insight and strengthening the patient/provider relationship
    • Social Determinants of Health: Social determinants of health are “influencers” in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Utilizing virtual care helps to mitigate some of these influencers, like lack of transportation, and allows all consumers to receive high-quality care.
    • Safety: As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care allows consumers to be cared for in a safe, low COVID-19 risk setting.

To learn more about Trinity Health Of New England's virtual care program, or to get started, visit TrinityHealthOfNE.org. Because wellness shouldn't wait.

Reference

1. https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/millennials-are-driving-real-healthcare-change. Millennials Are Driving Real Healthcare Change. MHE Staff. December 24, 2019.