Virtual healthcare takes many forms, which is a good thing because diverse patient communities cannot be served well by a single model. Whether you call it telehealthcare, telemedicine, or perhaps most accurately “remote healthcare,” distinct populations come with varying needs and challenges. We’ve written about Addison Caregivers‘ virtual caregivers for the elderly and chronically ill, for example. We also noted American Wells’ 2019 survey which indicated physicians show increased willingness to adopt telehealth.
CVS Health recently announced the expansion of its MinuteClinic virtual Video Visit program to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. People can now seek care via Video Visits in 39 states for patients two years and older. CVS in-store MinuteClinics in 34 states offer in-store medical care for minor injuries, minor illnesses, screenings and monitoring, skin conditions, and more. The clinics accept most insurance plans, according to CVS.
MinuteClinic Video Visits do not require patients to leave home, a significant convenience for populations such as older people, parents with multiple children at home, homebound patients, and people who have limited access to transportation. CVS physicians are available 24/7 365 days a year with an average 20-minute wait time. CVS charges $59 per Video Visit, payable by credit, debit, FSA, and HSA cards. CVS does not currently accept insurance coverage for Video Visits but expects to add insurance coverage in the near future.
MinuteClinic Video Visits run on a Teladoc virtual care technology platform and patients can access the visits through computers or mobile devices, including the CVS Pharmacy app.
Greedy company! The virtual appointment is only good for very few conditions. They will take your money and and tell you to see someone else! Basically they steal from you if it is not on their short list of simple problems but they don’t tell you what that list is, they just steal your money and say they will review your complaint with NO follow up. Use it for a UTI and that’s about it
It sounds as if you have had a bad experience with telelhealth. The same can happen with an in-person visit with an internist or other doctor. Telehealth services have been a huge help to patients in this time of social distancing and isolation, and I believe that on balance, these services provide needed professional healthcare.
Having said that, it makes sense to do some research before you commit to any healthcare service, either in person or online. For example, Urgent Care centers can be very helpful, but there are limits to what services they will provide. Find out in advance what a given service can and cannot do for patients so that you know whether or not it is an appropriate option for your health issue.
All the best,
Alfred Poor
Editor, Health Tech Insider
How much they pay you to say that Alfred?
Drew, from the assumptive tone of your question, I’m not sure that you’ll accept my answer. But for the benefit of anyone else who might be reading this, as it clearly states on our site, we do not publish submitted content or links of any sort, either paid or unpaid. All the posts on Health Tech Insider are written from scratch by me or one of our writers (and edited by me). We do not reprint press releases or other submissions from companies. And we always try to add some original analysis to help readers understand the context and implications of the news items that we present.
We do get paid for running banner ads on our site — sometimes as direct payments, sometimes through affiliate links — and we provide other promotional services for fees as well. We include banner ads in our weekly newsletter, and we occasional will send a sponsored email to our subscriber list.
I’d be happy to explain the editorial value of particular this post from nearly two years ago if you’re interested.
All the best,
Alfred Poor, Editor
Health Tech Insider
still waiting it been longer than 20 minutes
Horrible!
I requested a video visit at 5am. I waited all day no doctor ever showed up in the virtual waiting room nor did I hear back from anyone all day. I had to call customer care like 5 times to constantly check on the status and wait almost an hour just to speak with someone each time for them to tell me, I see your request in the system, we will alert your prior to your appointment and I didn’t hear from anyone all day. But they gladly took my payment at 5am.