American Well has gone national with its Online Care for Providers telehealth platform, expanding service beyond just health plans to reach doctors' practices and patients directly.
American Well has rolled out a new version of its Online Care telehealth
platform to allow physician practices of all sizes to offer the service
directly to patients nationwide.
Previously, American Well offered Online Care to major hospitals through a
pilot project with health plans such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and WellPoint in
states such as Minnesota, Texas
and Hawaii. Now with
Online Care for Providers, American
Well is targeting "mom and pop practices," American Well CEO Roy
Schoenberg told eWEEK.
"You're taking your technology built for absolute Cadillacs and making
it available to the mass market," Schoenberg said.
Doctors in practices of all sizes, as well as nurses and patients, can use
the service from anywhere by Web or phone.
Online Care allows providers and patients to hold consultations using
two-way video, secure text messaging or phone. The virtual meetings can be
live, on-demand or scheduled.
"In terms of the experience, the whole point of this is to use
technology to facilitate the interaction between the physician and their own
patients," Schoenberg said.
Doctors determine the fee scale for the service, and Online Care allows them
to be paid for routine emails or calls they would otherwise provide for free.
Telehealth using the phone or the Web provides an option for continuity of
care for patients who need to travel large distances to reach a doctor or who
need to be monitored for chronic conditions in between visits.
The April 19 news from American Well comes as
telehealth
emerges as a growing option for doctors and patients. President Obama
mentioned the telehealth trend of doctor/patient face-to-face video chats in
his State of the Union address on Jan. 25.
Schoenberg believes the president was referring specifically to the American
Well platform, since the company had been in touch with the White House.
Online Care provides an opportunity for doctors looking to capitalize on
federal
accountable care benefits, in which groups of doctors can collaborate to
earn financial incentives based on Medicare patients' positive health outcomes.
Specialists such as dermatologists can join online sessions along with the
primary care physician, Schoenberg said.
With the latest release of Online Care, American Well hopes to attract small
providers who may not have an IT department. They can use the Web-based
functionality of Online Care without managing an IT infrastructure.
"Essentially we are running the system for them-they actually literally
go on a Website," Schoenberg said. "They're not installing
anything."
Doctors can import notes from online patient visits into EHRs (electronic
health records).
In addition, Online Care allows health providers to customize their online
"storefronts."
Doctors have full control over the price structure. For them, the cost of
using Online Care is similar to that of EHR or practice-management applications
rather than that of health plans, according to Schoenberg.
Physicians inviting patients to an online consultation will send them an
e-mail invite. "They then land in the waiting room of the physician's
lobby," Schoenberg explained.
Online nurses, who may even be at home, help patients get acclimated to the
service and virtually walk them over to the doctor.
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