Lifestyle
Food & Nutrition
Fitness
Kaiserpermanente is one of the most well-known health insurance providers in the United States. But how does it measure up when compared to other healthcare providers? The answer may surprise you! Read on to find out more about why Kaiserpermanente might be the best choice in healthcare.
How Kaiserpermanente Can Help You
If you’re looking for a way to live a healthier lifestyle, it’s important to know what your options are. For many people, traditional healthcare isn’t convenient or flexible enough. While private health insurance plans can work well for some people, they might be cost-prohibitive for others. If you find yourself in either of these situations, consider using Kaiserpermanente for your healthcare needs. With more than 1 million medical members nationwide, Kaiserpermanente offers affordable care options that are personalized and conveniently close to home. In addition to offering affordable rates and monthly membership fees instead of co-pays or deductibles, these services help keep people healthy without breaking their budgets.
What Is Telehealth?
Telehealth, or telemedicine, involves using technology to connect doctors and patients remotely. As it’s grown in popularity over recent years, many providers have started offering a variety of services through telehealth. Nowadays, you can use it to get your blood pressure taken at home by a doctor over video chat, ask questions about specific symptoms you’re experiencing or receive prescription renewals without visiting your doctor in person. At Kaiserpermanente, telehealth helps them engage with patients and improve care. With more than 15 million members across eight states (and counting), maintaining an effective telehealth program is crucial for providing excellent care at a low cost—and keeping people healthier overall. Below are just a few of their strategies for making their program successful
How Kaiserpermanente Uses Telehealth
If you’re new to healthcare, Kaiserpermanente may seem like a foreign world. To that end, it can be useful to understand how traditional healthcare providers work—specifically, how they provide care. Kaiserpermanente relies on two main methods: live face-to-face sessions with their doctors and telehealth consultations from remote providers. These two tactics are designed to complement each other and improve health outcomes for patients in need of their services. Over time, it’s likely telehealth will replace many traditional medical visits for non-emergency cases; after all, who would prefer visiting a doctor in person when you can do so via video conferencing?
When Can I Use Telehealth?
Telehealth services are available to patients when their medical needs cannot be met at their local hospital or medical center, and they must turn to telehealth for assistance. In some instances, telehealth options are more convenient than visiting a doctor’s office or emergency room in person. Telehealth makes it possible for patients to speak with a physician from another location, often over video chat. It also can help physicians monitor certain aspects of patient care remotely. For example, patients may be able to schedule tests such as ECGs over video chat instead of traveling in-person to a medical facility that performs those tests. Telehealth allows doctors to closely monitor these types of tests without being physically present in order to provide added convenience and assistance to patients.
Getting Started With Telehealth
Though Kaiserpermanente originally started as a health maintenance organization (HMO), its embrace of telehealth has made it something closer to an accountable care organization (ACO). An ACO takes on responsibility for patients’ health and makes sure they follow through with treatment regimens. It’s hoped that by holding providers more accountable, patients will have better access to care while overall costs are kept down. That said, no technology can stand in for comprehensive, in-person healthcare, which is why anyone seeking treatment through telehealth must already be under another doctor’s care. The main advantage of adopting telehealth? Providers can see more patients while also keeping overall staff numbers steady or even reducing them slightly.
The Benefits of Virtual Visits
According to a 2015 Forbes study, 37% of patients said they were willing to pay a small fee for virtual visits. Virtual visits don’t just save money on travel and prevent people from having to take time off work; they also allow patients who live in rural areas or who have inflexible schedules (for example, children or seniors) access to doctors—and better health care overall. A recent nationwide healthcare survey found that 81% of Americans prefer to receive their medical care remotely when possible. Remote video visits are a convenient way for Kaiserpermanente physicians to meet those needs and continue improving their accessibility, affordability, and quality of care.
Tips for a Successful Virtual Visit
Going to a doctor’s office can be a pain. The wait time alone can make anyone feel anxious, which is why it’s great that virtual visits are becoming more and more popular these days. Virtual healthcare visits allow people to visit a doctor from their own home with nothing but their smartphone or tablet in hand. Here are some tips for your first virtual appointment: Ask your primary care physician if you qualify for a virtual visit before you go. (i.e.: if you feel fine or have had mild symptoms of an illness.) If they do not offer them, ask if they can recommend another provider that does.
