UnitedHealthcare Expands Access to Virtual Care, Including a New Virtual Primary Care Offering
January 14 2021 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
UnitedHealthcare has updated a policy to
help encourage primary care physicians, specialists and select
therapy providers to administer certain care virtually
Eligible UnitedHealthcare members in
employer-sponsored plans can now virtually establish a relationship
with a primary care physician for preventive, routine and chronic
condition care
UnitedHealthcare has expanded the availability of virtual care
with local physicians for members enrolled in employer-sponsored
plans, and also introduced a new Virtual Primary Care service
designed to enable access to medical services in a simpler and more
convenient way. Through both efforts, eligible members may be able
to visit virtually with health care providers for various types of
care, including wellness, routine and chronic condition
management.
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Access to primary care may help prevent
and detect disease, with a simpler and more convenient option now
making it possible for eligible UnitedHealthcare members to
virtually establish an ongoing relationship with this type of
medical provider. Source: UnitedHealthcare
To help improve access to local care providers, UnitedHealthcare
has updated a policy to help encourage the use of virtual care and
enable eligible members to meet with their physicians virtually.
Effective Jan. 1, the policy applies to fully insured and
self-insured employer plans and will continue to reimburse local
primary care physicians, specialists and select therapy providers
for administering certain care through telehealth as an alternative
to in-person visits.
The new Virtual Primary Care service, which is designed to make
it easier for people to establish and maintain a relationship with
a primary care physician, is currently available for members
enrolled in certain employer-sponsored fully insured or self-funded
health plans in 11 states. The service, offered in collaboration
with a national telehealth provider group, is expected to be
expanded to more states in 2021 and is part of a broader
UnitedHealthcare effort to help enable members to use technology to
access care.
These updates were unveiled this week during a virtual panel
featuring an executive from UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) who
talked about Virtual Primary Care at the Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) 2021, the annual technology conference.
“The UnitedHealthcare Virtual Primary Care service and updated
policy helps expand the use of virtual care from delivering care to
people who are sick, to now also focusing on preventing and
detecting disease before it starts and, if needed, helping people
more conveniently manage certain chronic conditions,” said Dr. Anne
Docimo, chief medical officer, UnitedHealthcare. “As more people
and care providers move to a digital-first mindset,
UnitedHealthcare will continue to modernize our approach to health
benefits and invest in new ways to use technology to help make it
more convenient for our members to access primary care and other
types of medical services.”
The number of Americans with a primary care physician has
declined recently, with an estimated 25% of people lacking this
type of ongoing relationship with a care provider.1 Reversing that
trend can be important given people with a relationship with a
primary care physician may be more likely to receive high-value
care services, such as preventive screenings, and report better
care access and experiences compared to people without this type of
care provider.2
According to a recent UnitedHealthcare survey, one-quarter of
respondents said they would actually prefer a virtual relationship
with a primary care physician rather than in-person visits.
Separately, some people who see a doctor virtually report no
difference in the quality of the visit, compared to an in-person
appointment; meanwhile another study found patients “vastly
preferred” a virtual experience, due to the convenience and the
elimination of travel time.
The Virtual Primary Care service enables eligible members to
access primary care appointments with no or little cost-sharing
(during the national public health emergency for COVID-19, member
cost-sharing will continue to be waived for COVID-19 testing and
testing-related visits). Through Virtual Primary Care, eligible
members are able to access services such as:
- Annual wellness visits and appointments for minor
ailments.
- Regular follow-ups and checkups for ongoing conditions like
asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes and more.
- Writing prescriptions*.
- Ordering lab tests and reviewing the results.
- Referrals to specialists.
Eligible UnitedHealthcare members in select markets have access
to Virtual Primary Care and can use a mobile device or personal
computer to receive care. Eligible members can check on myuhc.com
to determine if this service is available to them.
Virtual Primary Care is currently available in Arizona,
Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina,
Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
*Certain prescriptions may not be available, and other
restrictions may apply.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier
lives and making the health system work better for everyone by
simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and
wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care
providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full
spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with
more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500
hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also
provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned
and operated health care facilities in South America.
UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group
(NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more
information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC
on Twitter.
1 JAMA Network, 2019,
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2757495?resultClick=3
2 JAMA Network, 2019,
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2721037
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210114005268/en/
Will Shanley UnitedHealthcare (714) 204-8005
will.shanley@uhc.com
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