The patient will see you now

MARYANN STUMP

Chief innovation and strategy officer

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

MaryAnn_Stump@bluecrossmn.com

bluecrossmn.com

Topic: Healthcare

The transformation of the health care system is happening right here in Minnesota through innovation and patient-centered reforms by consumers, health plans, providers and employers.

We are excited to be on the leading edge of creating change in health care. Employers look to us for innovation, including things such as coverage at retail clinics, and even waiving co-payments at retail clinics. Now, we’re focusing directly on improving employee health and productivity. So, that’s why we launched a service allowing patients and doctors to have a “virtual visit” online via a web camera. We are testing on our own employees, with plans to offer it more broadly to others later in 2010.

Imagine having your health needs addressed immediately without having to leave the office, get into your car, drive to the clinic, spend time in the waiting room (with a bunch of sick people), eventually see the doctor and then drive all the way back to work.

That’s the vision of what can happen with online care. Now with Online Care Anywhere, some Minnesotans can spend just 10 minutes privately via webcam seeing a doctor without having to leave work and without having to schedule an appointment.

This service allows people, at their convenience, to visit with a physician who is at the office, at home or virtually anywhere they can log on or pick up the phone.

Here’s how it works. Online Care Anywhere connects the patients with health care professionals (physicians, nurse practitioners) from Fairview Physicians (our provider partner) who can answer questions, give medical advice, make diagnoses and prescribe medications when appropriate. This innovative service complements traditional health care by offering access to high-quality, personal care in a convenient setting.

As a self-insured employer, we’re interested in understanding how this new care model impacts productivity and presenteeism, and as a health plan we’re also interested in collecting data from this pilot. We are identifying if online care is a faster, better, cheaper way to deliver care to employees. We will use the initial effort to evaluate accessibility, the quality of health care, affordability, provider and consumer satisfaction and overall consumer reaction. Our employees will be invited to add their input to help shape the service and make it more effective for Minnesota consumers.

Our experience with retail clinics has helped Blue Cross design consumer-focused health care with services aligned to better meet needs. We’re attempting to make “faster, better, cheaper” care a reality. In other words, maintaining quality, while increasing convenience and affordability.

We’re actively seeking ways to engage and serve all consumers. Innovation in all aspects of health care is needed, from how we access care to how we pay for it. Online Care Anywhere is a promising example of the type of new thinking needed to change the health care equation to deliver more patient-centered, cost effective health care.