Your Money Adviser: ‘Virtual’ Doctor Visits Are Enticing Employers. What if You’re the Patient?

It’s hard for some people to break out of the tradition of going to a doctor’s office, Ms. Kwong said. Some people simply may not know the services are available or how they work. She said offering demonstrations of the technology might be helpful.

“Seeing is believing, for a lot of folks,” Ms. Kwong said.

Tracy Watts, a senior partner at Mercer and a specialist in health care cost management, gave an example of how “super easy” an online visit can be for a patient with, say, a rash. The patient chooses an appointment time and can upload a picture of the rash. The doctor and the patient then talk online at the appointed time, and the doctor can call in a prescription to the patient’s pharmacy — all in about 10 or 15 minutes.

For now, employer adoption of virtual medicine is on the upswing. But that may change. Some studies suggest virtual visits may increase costs by spurring patients to seek treatment for minor ailments that wouldn’t otherwise have prompted them to see a doctor.

Here are some questions and answers about virtual health care:

Is there a fee for consulting a doctor online?

Fees or co-payments depend on the details of your insurance plan.

Some employers offer virtual visits through a health plan, while others contract with separate companies to offer the service. While some providers charge people without health coverage about $70 per virtual visit, the cost can be $40 or less — or even free — for people with workplace health insurance. Some health plans may offer virtual visits with no or lower fees to encourage workers to use them, the Kaiser study found.

Mercer has found that lower fees are linked to higher use of virtual visits. Among employers who reported relatively high rates of telemedicine use, the typical co-payment was $15. Employers with below-average use had a typical fee of $30.

Whether a virtual visit costs a patient more than an in-person visit depends, again, on your insurance. The average co-payment for a primary care office visit is $25, according to the Kaiser foundation. But the cost for someone with certain health plans — like high deductible plans, which have a different payment structure — may be much higher.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/your-money/virtual-doctor-visits-employers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss