Our medical system is broken. I know this may not come as a shock to many of you. But for those who need convincing, let me share the truth of the situation. Here are some of the alarming trends:
- Healthcare costs are RISING
- There is NO transparency as to what medical services actually cost
- Insurance companies are DECREASING coverage
- Reimbursement to doctors and hospitals is DECREASING
- There is an increasing SHORTAGE of quality doctors
- Influence of pharmaceutical and device companies is INCREASING
- Administrative burden on doctors is INCREASING
These factors are leading to angry patients and I don’t blame you. However, it’s also leading to physician burn-out. Every day doctors are being asked to see more patients and perform more non-clinical activities; paperwork, button-clicking, unnecessary meetings, and phone calls with insurance companies. If we seem distracted, there is good reason.
This system cannot continue to provide quality care. And it’s time that we use technology to our advantage. Enter telemedicine, a medical visit with a doctor via an on-line, secure, video conferencing platform.
We at VirtuCare are going to make a bold prediction:
We believe that telemedicine vs. in person care leads to a BETTER healthcare experience.
Not convinced? Humor us for a moment and you’ll see the benefits of telemedicine vs. in person care.
Top 10 Reasons You Should Consider a Telemedicine Visit
1. Your Money is Actually Spent on Healthcare
Have you ever asked yourself:
“Why do I even have insurance? It might be less expensive to pay for this completely out-of-pocket.”
Deductibles, premiums, and co-pays continue to increase. Choices with how your money is spent continue to decrease. A telemedicine visit with VirtuCare allows you to pay your doctor directly. Unlike traditional in person care, money is no longer going to some insurance company trying to profit off of your health.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
2. Full Price Transparency
Want to know how much your visit is going to cost? $89. No more hidden fees. No letters from your insurance company with an explanation of benefits that make no sense. No more surprise bills in 2 months for services you thought were covered.
You’ll know exactly how much money you’ll be spending and what you will be receiving with telemedicine vs. in person visits. Good luck figuring out the price of an in person visit without a PhD in Mathematics.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
3. Save Time
A recent study showed that a doctor will only spend 15-20 minutes of face-to-face time with you. Compare that to the 2 hours total time that you waste traveling to and waiting in a doctor’s office. Think about it what it takes to see a doctor in person:
- Get dressed, leave your work or home, drive to the office
- Find parking, find the office
- Check in, fill out paperwork, and sit in the waiting room forever
- Repeat your whole medical history to a nurse and sit in the exam room and wait for the doctor
- Visit with the doctor
- Wait to check out
- Drive home.
Are you exhausted yet? With a VirtuCare telemedicine visit the process is quick and simple:
- Create an account
- Schedule and pay for your appointment
- Fill out a brief intake form
- Visit with your doctor
When the visit is over, you go back to your day. Heck you don’t even need to put on pants for our visit (just make sure your webcam isn’t pointed down too low).
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
4. Eliminate Frustration
Think of all the tedium associated with in person office visits to see a specialist.
First, you need a referral from your primary care doctor. Then it’s a game of phone tag with the specialist’s office to make an appointment while you’re trying to get your child to soccer practice. When you do get them on the phone, the first available appointment isn’t for 6 weeks and the time is terrible.
Frustrated yet? When you finally arrive for the appointment 6 weeks later, you find out your referring doctor didn’t send over the correct paperwork and no one knows why you are there. What a mess.
You can eliminate all of this painful frustration with telemedicine vs. in person visits. Instead, YOU schedule an appointment on-line at a time that works for YOU.
Weekends, nights, early morning? No problem. Forget dealing with office staff and directly access your doctor. Doesn’t that sound better?
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
5. Save Money
You might be saying to yourself, “Why would I pay $89 for a telemedicine vs. in person office visit.” Yes, a telemedicine visit outside of insurance may seem more expensive at first glance. But look deeper and we’ll argue that you’re saving money.
The average co-pay for an in person office visit with a specialist is $35-50. Now make sure to add up and include the costs of:
- Taking time off of work
- Childcare
- Gas/parking or arrange transportation
- 2 hours of your time (how much would you pay to have this time back in a day?)
Remember, this is in addition to rising deductibles and all the services your insurance company no longer covers. You’re probably spending $150 to go see a specialist for a routine in person vs. telemedicine consultation.
$89 to not leave your home and still receive exceptional care is sounding pretty good.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
6. Convenience
Telemedicine allows you to have a video visit on your phone from the comfort of your home or office. Can’t get time off of work? Close your office door or sneak into the conference room for your visit. Rather be at home? Sit on the couch and we can chat while the kids are doing homework. Pants are optional.
You choose your own appointment time. Heck, we even offer nights and weekends. You cannot beat the convenience of a telemedicine appointment.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine (not even close)
7. Privacy High Quality
Urologists diagnose and treat embarrassing and painful medical conditions:
- Erectile dysfunction
- Premature ejaculation
- Urinary difficulties in Women and Men
- Urinary tract infections
- Kidney stones
We also treat sensitive subjects like prostate and kidney cancer.
How many times have you been in a medical office and overhead a conversation about another patient? Ever wonder what people are hearing about your medical care? How many times have you run into someone you know at a doctor’s office? It happens all the time.
At VirtuCare we take patient privacy seriously. With telemedicine vs. in person visits the only people who will know about your health care concerns are you and your doctor.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
8. Care With Compassion
Your access to a particular in person specialist is likely limited by several factors. A specialist must be:
- In-network with your insurance company
- Known and respected by your primary care doctor
- Within reasonable driving distance
In some cases, the specialist who meets these criteria may lack much more important features such as:
- Empathy
- Listening skills
- Medical knowledge
- Time to spend with you
- Competent office staff
Telemedicine allows you to choose a physician based on these more important features. You’re not stuck seeing Dr. X because he or she is the only urologist within 2 hours of your home or they are in-network with your insurance.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
9. Full Attention of Your Doctor
You’re not the only one who enjoys visits from home! Instead of running from exam room to exam room, we also get to sit in a comfortable chair from home.
No more phone interruptions from the ER, nurses asking about medication refills from a patient who hasn’t seen you in a year or drop-in visits by drug reps who “just want a minute of your time.”
We can concentrate our attention fully on you! No distractions.
With telemedicine vs. in person visit, you’ll visit with a Virtucare specialist at their best.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
10. Improved Communication
Don’t you wish that it were possible to have a direct line of communication with your doctor? With telemedicine you can!
VirtuCare uses the CallingDr telemedicine platform which allows for secure text messaging through the app. We can directly send you educational material and answer follow up questions.
No more voicemails, waiting on hold or fighting through front desk/nursing staff to talk to your doctor. We are right here for you.
Telemedicine vs. in person visit? Winner – Telemedicine
Closing Thoughts
For those keeping score it was a landslide victory for telemedicine vs. in person visits. With that being said there are certainly situations for which telemedicine should not be your first choice:
- Life threatening emergencies (dial 911 or go to the emergency room immediately)
- Need for an in person physical exam (e.g. lumps, bumps, masses)
- Need for an in person diagnostic procedure (e.g. endoscopy, biopsy, surgical procedure)
Although the U.S. healthcare system is broken, we at VirtuCare are incredibly grateful to be in healthcare. Sadly, there are too many outside forces working to impede quality compassionate care. However, we are convinced that telemedicine gives us hope. Hope that we can reclaim the core value in healthcare, the sacred doctor-patient relationship.
Stay healthy!
VirtuCare
