Health Care Quality Special Reports


Secure Online Visits Help Family Practitioner Increase Patient Access and Boost Revenue

December 2009
Q & A
Richard L. Reece, MD

Q Electronic consultations are becoming popular. How do webVisits work?

A A patient logs in to the RelayHealth Web site, selects his or her ailment from a menu of non-emergent clinical symptoms and answers a series of online questions related to that specific condition. Sometimes I’ll have additional questions and will send the patient a message. Depending on the response, I can make a diagnosis following one round of messaging about 90% of the time. I can order or renew a prescription electronically, forward a lab slip to the lab, arrange an in-office X-ray, or instruct the patient to check back within a week if the condition has not improved. Patients understand that the webVisit service is not a real time interaction and that our typical turnaround time is one business day. At the initiation of every webVisit, patients see a pop-up message explaining that this is not for urgent issues. It’s also part of the terms of understanding that the patient agrees to when he or she requests connectivity with RelayHealth.

Q So is the RelayHealth webVisit system only for routine care?

A Yes. webVisits are designed for routine care as in addressing an acute problem that is not emergent and this can include managing a chronic problem, too. Patients log on whenever it’s convenient for them. I log on whenever it’s convenient for me, including early morning or very late hours or weekends.

Q Is there more to the RelayHealth system than secure messaging and webVisits?

A The eScript electronic prescribing component is in use by community pharmacists who contact local physician offices online, including mine, to request or fulfill medication refills or renewals on behalf of their customers. Using RelayHealth, staff members can view ....


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