When Debbie’s 7 year old daughter came home from school on Friday afternoon with a sore throat and fever, Debbie had no time to drop everything and take her daughter to an urgent care center. The thought of spending hours in an urgent care center waiting for a doctor to diagnose her daughter was not the way Debbie wanted to start her weekend.
So Debbie picked up the phone and scheduled a conference call with a board certified doctor to diagnose the problem. After spending 15 minutes on the phone with the doctor explaining her daughter’s symptoms, the doctor diagnosed the illness as Strep and called in a prescription of antibiotics to Debbie’s neighborhood pharmacy.
Within an hour, Debbie was home with the antibiotics and put her daughter to bed. By Monday morning, Debbie’s daughter was back to normal and off to school.
Telemedicine Is Changing How We Receive Healthcare
Imagine a world without sitting hours in a doctor’s waiting room or in an emergency room waiting for care. With Telemedicine this is becoming a reality. Telemedicine is changing the way Americans are receiving medical care and many insurance companies are noticing. Telemedicine is an on call 24 hour service that allows patients to conference call or video call doctors to receive medical care without even getting out of bed.
Watch this short 2 minute video from ABC News to learn more about Telemedicine:
Telemedicine is a health and wellness program designed specifically to save you time and money by utilizing technology to provide you with effective, immediate access to Healthcare goods and services, all from your phone or computer. Doctors can treat flu symptoms, sinus infections, Bronchitis, rashes, allergies, urinary tract infections — and even prescribe medications — without ever physically seeing the patient.
Click here to learn more: Call A Doctor Plus
Telemedicine has the potential to save patients time and money from not having to sit in a waiting room and doctors who spend a lot of time seeing patients who really don’t need to be coming in for an appointment.
According to a recent survey by The American Medical Association, Seventy percent of doctor’s office visits can be managed over the phone and fifty percent of ER visits are non-emergencies. Telemedicine’s cost savings range from $300 per year for a single employee or more than $1,000 per year for a family of four.
Telemedicine Is Bound To Make an Impact on Your Business
For employers looking to cut health care costs, telemedicine is proving to be a real money saver as well. Employees can talk to a doctor from anywhere, even while at work. This reduces time missed from work sitting in a doctor’s office or emergency room for an illness or injury.
Telemedicine reduces office co-pays for employees and claim costs to the employer’s group health insurance plan. In a recent study of telemedicine users, hospital admissions dropped by 30% and doctor visits were reduced by 60% for a savings of 45% in unnecessary doctor and emergency room visits. By including Telemedicine as a part of an employer’s portfolio of group employee benefits it can be an important healthcare cost savings tool.
What Are The Advantages of Telemedicine?
Convenience:
- Licensed physicians and industry professionals on call 24/7/365
- No waiting rooms, no closed offices and waiting weeks for an appointment
- Receive answers and treatment within minutes via phone, email or video
Peace of Mind
- 100% acceptance regardless of preexisting conditions
- No limitations on usage
- Board certified, state specific physicians and other healthcare professionals
Money Savings:
- Significantly less expensive that typical office or ER visits
- Saves on out of pocket expenses such as high deductibles and co-pays
- Less time off from work for doctor appointments
For more information about Telemedicine and starting a program for your business, call us at 800-514-3513 or click this link to see for yourself: Call a Doctor Plus