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How Telehealth and Drugstore Clinics Can Improve Our Health Care

Telehealth services are increasingly being offered throughout the United States. These services are working to provide improved health care for all Americans. Video health care, or telehealth measures, give people immediate access to medical professionals who can effectively diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses. A growing number of drugstore clinics have also gotten into the telehealth game recently, driving the telemedicine trend even further.

CVS Health recently announced that they will be introducing internet access for their MinuteClinic treatment facilities in many states. Although these clinics in CVS drugstore locations can be more convenient than going to a doctor’s office, they can still have wait times of several hours during peak times. So, CVS has found a solution. They’ll also be offering the ability for patients to gain access to medical professionals (like nurse practitioners and physician assistants) 24/7 from their mobile devices. All they’ll have to do is log on through the CVS Pharmacy app (available for both iPhone and Android users) to get treated.

Each patient has to complete a health questionnaire indicating their medical history and current issue; then they’re matched to a board-certified health care provider that’s licensed in their state. The provider goes over the questionnaire and conducts a video-enabled visit to assess the patient’s condition and come up with an appropriate treatment plan. Providers can even prescribe medications through this service (and they don’t have to be filled at CVS pharmacies). They can also make referrals if they determine that an in-person doctor’s visit would be better for that particular case. These video visits typically last about 15 minutes. That means it’s a quick and easy doctor’s visit conducted right from your phone, without you ever having to leave the house!

Divan - CVS

CVS has introduced internet access for their MinuteClinic treatment facilities in many states.

There are tons of benefits to interacting with a medical professional in a MinuteClinic or straight through the app – the main one being that patients can now get care whenever and wherever they need it. When they’re seen by a doctor doesn’t depend on how many other patients need to be treated, so they’re able to get immediate care. Patients who live in rural or remote areas can also have more access to treatment without having to worry about transportation to a facility. Increased access means there’s a more even distribution of care for people throughout the country.

Another great benefit is that these clinics and video chats are much cheaper than an in-person doctor’s office or emergency room visit. In fact, using the MinuteClinic online service costs just $59 with a credit or debit card. Some reports say that an average ER visit typically costs around $2,000, which represents a huge amount of savings. Currently, insurance isn’t taken by CVS for telehealth visits, but the company is working on getting insurance coverage in the future. This service can also be extremely helpful for those individuals without health insurance, since everything can be paid for out-of-pocket. Plus, with a set flat rate, patients can’t be nickel and dimed with added costs. This, in turn, will help make health care more affordable and accessible for people at any income level.

There aren’t many restrictions on who can use the telehealth services, either. As long as the patient is two years old and up, they can use these telehealth options for a variety of minor injuries and illnesses including:

  • Seasonal allergies
  • Colds and coughs
  • Earaches
  • Flu
  • Sinus infections
  • Sore throats
  • Upset stomachs
  • Women’s services (like UTIs)
  • Minor injuries

Since patients can be treated for these types of conditions (among others), it means that there will be reduced wait times in emergency rooms and urgent care clinics. Individuals with non-life-threatening issues can be treated with video visits, so patients with more serious problems will be able to see a doctor more quickly. In fact, the American Medical Association and Wellness Council of America states that more than 75% of doctor, urgent care, and emergency room visits can be handled through a video chat.

Divan Medical - woman using smartphone

More and more drugstores across the U.S. are getting involved in telemedicine by offering telehealth services.

Other drugstore chains are also getting into the telemedicine race. Rite Aid has begun to work with telehealth service provider, InTouch Health, to add telehealth kiosks to their pharmacies. It’s likely an increasing number of stores will continue to implement these services to help better serve their customers. And it seems that many people are more than happy with the care they’re getting through these telehealth options. A CVS Health study noted that more than 95 percent of patients who used the video chats were highly satisfied with the quality of care they received. The same study indicated that 95% of patients were satisfied with the convenience and overall experience of the telehealth option, making it a no-brainer for choosing it in the future.

As telemedicine becomes more mainstream as time goes by, it’s likely more people in the U.S. will have access to quality health care. Patients won’t be limited by their location or whether there are certain medical professionals in their area. Treatment options will be more affordable, because providers won’t be able to charge added fees for office visits or expensive emergency room care. Overall, drugstore clinics and telehealth services like CVS’ MinuteClinic will help to improve both access to and the cost of health care for the whole country.

Telemedicine In California: Everything You Need To Know

Telemedicine has been taking the medical world by storm in recent years, and with good reason; it completely revolutionizes the way we practice medicine in the United States of America. Taking its cues from a 1960s initiative that saw doctors linking up with remote patients via telecommunications (which essentially meant ‘phones’ back in the day), telemedicine is a way of providing on-demand health care to patients not just in remote places, but everywhere and anywhere that could benefit from instantaneous communications with doctors and healthcare professionals. As it stands in 2018, telemedicine is almost entirely digitized, and acts as a mediator between patients and doctors. But is it the same in every state in the U.S., and if not, how exactly does the most populous state in the country, the Golden State, deal with it? What is the state of telemedicine in California today?

The first thing to remember when discussing telemedicine anywhere is that it is viewed as a tool in medical practice, not a distinct or separate form of medicine in and of itself. This is very much the case with telemedicine in California, where the utilization and implementation of telemedicine goes back to 1992. That year, the University of California-Davis progressed a telemedicine program based around monitoring fetuses, especially designed for rural communities, which saw a link between the UC Davis Medical Center and a Colusa community hospital. Based on the success of that initiative, Sacramento-based Kaiser Permanente launched a home telemedicine program, while Blue Cross of California and the prison system followed their lead by introducing their own specific telemedicine programs.

Divan Medical - Doctor and Patient with Computer

Telemedicine is viewed as a tool in medical practice, not a distinct or separate form of medicine in and of itself.

In response to this growing demand, the California government decided that new legislature was needed, and a few years later, it passed the Telemedicine Development Act of 1996. This Act set much of the groundwork for the way telemedicine is practiced in the state today, and although it is a relatively new phenomenon in the field of medicine, this important piece of legislature was crucial in getting it up and running in a safe and legal manner. It imposes a few baseline requirements, such as health care plans not necessarily requiring face-to-face contact between patient and doctor (telemedicine in a nutshell), and that every patient on the receiving end of telemedicinal care must sign a written consent form.

A few years later, as digital technology continued to increase and improve, the state of California doubled down on its telemedicine bills and created a new one: The Telehealth Advancement Act of 2011. This Act clarified several definitions in relation to telemedicine in the state, and also expanded the initiative to include the term ‘telehealth’, which provided an umbrella term for telemedicine in general. Most importantly of all, it mandated private payer remuneration for telehealth services, which was a major boost for both patients and doctors alike. It also decreed that meetings between patients and doctors didn’t necessarily have to take place in licensed health care facilities. With this, telemedicine in California became more widely available, and set the framework for expedited growth in the years to come. In a few states, a person-to-person physical exam is required before a doctor and a patient can begin treatment via telemedicine; this is not the case in California, where relationships may be established solely through telemedicine and remain legitimate.

A number of different practitioners can provide telemedicinal care in the state of California – they just have to be licensed under Division 2 of the state’s Healing Arts statute. This remit includes doctors, nurses, chiropractors, midwives, dieticians, nutritionists, dentists, and more. The type of telemedicine available in the state is wide and varied, and can be applied to almost every form of health care available. Everything from clinical consultations to medical marijuana from sites like MMJ Recs constitutes telehealth, bringing California way ahead of the curve when it comes to the initiative. California is also a huge state; this makes it a perfect area to benefit from telemedicine’s other major advantage – the widening availability of specialists.

Divan Medical - Golden Gate Bridge

A number of different practitioners can provide care via telemedicine in California.

Previously, especially in rural areas, patients were limited to seeing the specialist who was nearest to them. As many conditions require a specialist, whether they appear serious or not, this was severely limiting for some patients, who might not have had the opportunity to shop around for a specialist that suited them, by necessity of their location. In 2018, there is a huge range of specialists available via telemedicine, and they’re not limited the nearest one available. On top of that, patients can engage with specialists when and where they want to, as opposed to being put on a long list for a physical visit that could be months or even years away.

All in all, the future for telemedicine in California looks bright. Hopefully some other states will start taking some cues from the Golden State, and incorporate its embracing and acceptance of telemedicine into their own programs.

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