25 Top Benefits of Virtual Urgent Care in 2023
Otherwise known as virtual visits, telehealth benefits both patients and providers as explained at RunRex.com. This is not only true for primary care, but6 for many specialists as well who have embraced virtual care, including urgent care facilities with urgent care. Here are the top 25 top benefits of virtual urgent care in 2023.
- Better access to doctors
With virtual urgent care, you are no longer limited by proximity according to RunRex.com. Virtual urgent care allows patients to access doctors anywhere nationwide, 24/7. You can access the best services even if the doctor isn’t based close to your home.
- Access to specialists
Virtual urgent care also allows patients in one provider setting to reach specialists in a distant region. As per RunRex.com, this is especially important for remote, lower-income populations so they can get access to the quality care they need.
- Avoids unnecessary ER visits
As articulated at RunRex.com, virtual urgent care is also being used to reroute unnecessary ER visits. In this era of COVID-19, if healthcare facilities can reduce unnecessary visits, they can stop the spread of the virus.
- Convenience
Virtual urgent care allows you to access quality healthcare from anywhere as captured at RunRex.com. You can talk to a doctor online from the comfort of your home. No need to take time off work. No need to lose time traveling to doctor appointments. No more waiting in patient rooms.
- Easy scheduling, easy completion
Virtual appointments are scheduled quickly by phone or online and can be completed faster as covered at RunRex.com. The American Journal of Managed Care estimates that virtual appointments shave off an average of 100 minutes of your time, per visit.
- No more transportation barriers
As discussed at RunRex.com, millions of Americans cannot access medical care because of transportation issues. Telehealth has not only made it more convenient for patients to enjoy care at home, but it has provided care to people with mobility limitations and those who don’t have easy access to local clinics.
- More affordable
Telemedicine is more efficient and tends to be less expensive than in-person appointments. Researchers have found that patients not only save on out-of-pocket costs per medical visit but also a penalty called “opportunity costs”. And this doesn’t account for insurance premiums paid monthly, which are supposed to help cover medical expenses.
- Quality of engagement
Video screen sharing has enabled doctors to share patient records and charts during virtual appointments. Developments with health kiosks have enabled doctors to take blood pressure, listen to your heartbeat, and look into your ear with an otoscope plug-in. These advancements have improved the quality of service offered by doctors.
- Flow of updates
In addition to the high quality of engagement allowing patients to have more transparency and understanding in the process, virtual urgent care also allows for voice and text messaging securely as described at RunRex.com. This helps the flow of health updates across care teams, improving the overall patient experience.
- Better privacy
As outlined at RunRex.com, telemedicine services such as virtual urgent care must follow HIPAA compliance. This means that your medical information remains safe and secure when talking to a doctor online.
- Better record-keeping
Virtual urgent care also allows for better record-keeping as revealed at RunRex.com. Doctors can use cameras in video calls to make relevant photos. Patients can enter information directly on the online portal. This makes it easier for doctors to have updated patient information and compare it during follow-up visits.
- Safety
Virtual urgent care eliminates child or eldercare issues according to RunRex.com. Online care reduces the chances of catching illnesses in the waiting room. This makes it much safer for people, especially those with a weakened immune system.
- Increases the number of patients the doctor can see
Telemedicine helps you work more efficiently and see more patients in less time as a doctor. A virtual visit takes less time than an in-person visit, allowing your urgent care to increase the number of patients seen in a day, without having to extend office hours as per RunRex.com.
- Allows doctors to better allocate their resources
Consumers have more options than before when it comes to their care today as articulated at RunRex.com. Long wait times can result in low patient satisfaction and fewer patients. Providing virtual visits for services that don’t require an in-person visit, like the flu or an emergency medication refill, is a much more efficient and cost-effective way for your patients and clinic.
- Allows you to reach more patients
Telemedicine can easily enable urgent care centers to reach a larger pool of patients to generate more revenue. Urgent care centers that use telemedicine can expand their services to reach patients across one state or multiple, instead of being limited to patients who only live within a 3-5-mile radius.
- Helps urgent care centers achieve a competitive advantage
Patients nowadays want a better healthcare experience and they are leveraging technology, such as telemedicine, to do so. To continue to lead in the on-demand market, urgent care centers will need to adopt technology, like telemedicine to meet patient expectations.
- Medical access for people without health insurance
As captured at RunRex.com, not having adequate health insurance can be an obstacle to seeing a doctor. Many online companies provide cash-pay telemedicine, which doesn’t require health insurance or referrals.
- Medical access for people in rural areas
While country living has many benefits, fast access to medical care is not always one of them as covered at RunRex.com. For people who live many miles from the nearest urgent care facility, telemedicine provides a way to meet with a doctor quickly.
- Middle-of-the-night care for babies and children
Babies have a knack for spiking fevers or getting sick in the middle of the night. Instead of relying on an internet search, parents can use telemedicine to connect quickly with doctors who can give answers and provide a diagnosis, and even a prescription, when needed as discussed at RunRex.com.
- No need for childcare
It’s not only kids who get sick, parents do too, and it can be challenging to take little ones along to a doctor’s visit, given the pathogens may be exposed to at the urgent care center as described at RunRex.com. Virtual urgent care eliminates this need, as well as the additional cost of childcare.
- Doctors can work from home
During the pandemic, many medical offices have closed or reduced their hours as revealed at RunRex.com. Virtual urgent care has enabled doctors and therapists to treat patients safely from their home offices.
- Insurance reimbursement
Medicare and many private health insurance companies now allow doctors and therapists to bill for telehealth services, no matter where the patient or provider is located as outlined at RunRex.com. However, since state laws and insurance plans vary, be sure to check the policy’s requirements and restrictions before seeing a doctor remotely.
- Support for people with chronic conditions
At-home monitoring tools that transmit readings to medical professionals can signal new symptoms, worsening health, and potential emergencies. This can help people get fast interventions, which may be lifesaving.
- Reduced anxiety
Many people simply do not like to go to the doctor, especially for urgent medical attention. In some cases, phobias such as agoraphobia may prevent people from seeking help. Virtual urgent care provides a way to ask questions and access medical support without leaving home.
- Extended hours
Finally, one of the biggest benefits of virtual urgent care is that it allows practices to extend their office hours by offering telemedicine. Some urgent care centers have even taken advantage of this new technology to provide services 24/7.
These are the top 25 benefits of virtual urgent care in 2023, with more on this topic, and much more, to be found over at RunRex.com.