We’ve discussed new alternatives to traditional healthcare before, but we’re excited to watch the development of one new player in the game: American Well, a medical care service that replaces the standard doctor’s check-up for a virtual, webcam-based one – while still working within the traditional U.S. healthcare system. According to the NY Times, users of the new program developed by Dr. Roy Shoenberg and his brother Ido will be able to access the service via their health plans’ websites. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii is the first to sign on and will offer patients the virtual visits starting in January. More states and health plans are slated for activation throughout 2009.
More details from NYT:
Patients who are members of the health plan pay a co-pay, just like at the doctor’s office. Doctors hold 10-minute appointments, which can be extended for an optional fee, and can file prescriptions through the system. Uninsured patients can also use it, for a fee that the health plans choose but which will be less than $50, much less than a visit to the emergency room, which is where the uninsured often end up. Health plans pay American Well a license fee per member to use the software, as well as a transaction fee of about $2 a patient each time a patient sees a doctor.
Doctors, meanwhile, pick up a few extra dollars on the side. They get paid less than an office visit but more than a phone consult and do not have to worry about scheduling, overhead and paperwork. They just log on and wait for patients to come to them. American Well files all the claims, and the money is deposited into the doctor’s bank account.
American Well is taking further steps to make non-emergency care more convenient and on-your-own-terms: the service provider has formed a partnership with HealthVault (Microsoft’s personal digital medical records service) offering patients more control over their health histories and the opportunity to openly access and share their files with doctors.
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as well as the added benefits of home visits easing stress in traffic. Great to hear the internet being used fop physical health… in a real physical sense.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:28 pm