To visit a doctor’s office with sick children can be a bit of a schedule conflict. My husband would have to take off a morning or afternoon or I would have to coordinate with a family member to schedule an appointment before noon so that they can be home with the kid(s) that are not ill. It is a frustration.
On February 20, 2020, my husband scheduled an appointment with a new pediatrician in Garland. Which is a considerable drive time from our home. It essentially was a location downgrade from what we were used to. The pediatrician gave us the impression that she would be available since it is her clinic and that it is very rare that she would not be working. At this time, Nicolette just had a cough that only occurred at night. She had some nasal drip here and there, but no fever. The pediatrician didn’t seem to think there was anything to be worried about and that it would eventually run its course. We were advised not to run eucalyptus oil in our Rainmate, because eucalyptus oil is known to cause irritation. Which is a surprise for us since we have been doing this method for about a year now. The cost of that visit out-of-pocket expense was $30.00. The cost to our insurance was approximately $150.00.
Just When We Thought Things Seemed To Be Better
Days later, after our family visit to the Dallas World Aquarium and Klyde Warren Park, that’s when Nicolette, Vivi, Corban and myself got the body aches, coughing, sneezing, headaches, chills, sweats, loss of appetite and fevers.
Jason called the new pediatrician to schedule an appointment for later that day. Which happened to be a day that the pediatrician was not available. So after an exhausting conversation of having to schedule and possibly arranging a visit to an urgent care as a last resort. My husband suggested that our health plan offers a Virtual Doctor Visit.
I said, “This is perfect! How convenient to be able to take advantage of a doctor on demand service.”
We can avoid having our children be out in the cold weather and not have to share a space with those sick in the waiting room.[/vc_column_text]
Going Virtual With United Healthcare
I went to our plan with United Healthcare website to log in to the Virtual Visit. The home page message gave me the impression this is probably our best option for a quick assessment any time, day or night. It appeared that we should be able to be seen by a doctor which the care is provided by Teladoc. It is a virtual medical company that provides a service where you can talk to a doctor, therapist, or medical expert anywhere you are by phone or video.
Request A Visit
After selecting Request A Visit, policyholders must add their entire family to the profiles. You would think of all the paperwork that you fill out somehow that information would already be there. Guess there is not a robot admin created yet.
Who Is This Visit For?
It was right about here that I started to realize this is not customizing my account very well. The graphics indicate a progression to select who is the virtual visit for and to update a medical record. Another section asks where you will be located for this visit.
List of Doctors Available To Meet Now
There is a selection of medical professionals to choose from that may be varied by preference in a list with profile information. There was probably about 8 that were listed in the results provided. The green box to Meet Now was a bit deceptive, because it didn’t appear to actually link you to the next step. Instead it reroutes you to testing the audio and visual for the device that you are using. If this doctor was not available or didn’t have the equipment on their end then it should inform me of options to consider to schedule an appointment. Or the video option should not be listed.
Request Appointment Time
Choosing the other option to schedule an appointment and reading of the earliest of when I could receive an appointment was not something I expected. Considering the whole purpose was to experience on demand service. But I did appreciate that there was some notes added that indicated a timeframe. Unlike when you select Meet Now.
Private Doctor On Call
I did make a call to the Help Desk to further assist me in adding family members and they were very friendly in their assistance. Legal jargon was read to me that in agreeing to a virtual visit that they could not guarantee a treatment or receive a prescription. The service agent helped streamline my appointment to the next available doctor by telephone.
Approximately 30 minutes later, I received a call from a Doctor from a private number.
The Doctor sounded very friendly, but he had an accent. It’s a struggle of mine that I have trouble with some accents. So I had to repeat some of what was said to make sure I heard correctly. I explained our experience at the last pediatrician visit that there was just a cough that occurred in the middle of the night and some nasal drainage. Days later after a visit to DWA and Klyde Warren Park we started having body aches, coughing, sneezing, headaches, chills, sweats, loss of appetite and fevers.
It Sounds Like A Virus
The Doctor said it sounded like we had a virus. There was no suggestion of prescription. He did suggest to continue the Motrin and Tylenol as needed. Usually this lasts about 14 days. He did ask if there was any trouble breathing? Which I said no that there wasn’t at this time.
After the telephone call, I did receive a visit summary via email that included a diagnosis: Acute upper respiratory infection, unspecified with a quick link about when I would need an antibiotic. Additional notes regarding a follow-up that if you are not better in 3 days to contact a provider and suggested reading about the Common Cold.
My Virtual Visit Assessment
We were provided a friendly service with phone support. However, this is not really entirely what a virtual on demand service is expected to be. It is a bit skewed to give the impression that users in the network can be provided with a virtual visit by video. I did have to call the Help Desk for assistance on the web administration so even though there was a help video introducing the service–it was not enough. Maybe a guide should be more prominent to completing the medical data to help members in the welcome process. The cost of $15 was reasonable. There was no additional out-of-pocket expenses.
United Healthcare Follow-up Email Survey
A few days later I received this email that offered me to participate in a survey about the virtual visit. The link took me to an online survey that had several questions to answer and a feedback box to enter my own information of what can they do to improve their services. Highlights of what I shared in this blog is what I mentioned. Hopefully, they will take my input and consider a better end user experience. Ultimately, it’s about the members who are subscribed to the insurance policy. We are in a point in time that this sort of platform is a huge value both for the medical industry and patients.
Learn More About Doctor On Demand Services
By joining a network of doctors you can be able to receive affordable healthcare related consultation from the comfort of your device that you choose 24/7. United Healthcare is my husband’s company’s insurance provider. I don’t know too much of what other concierge service companies are providing. Maybe it was a fluke that I was unable to receive same day video options. But that is one of the major selling points to be able to have that face time with a board certified medical professional.
Here is a quick list:
What has your experience been with a virtual doctor on demand service? Tell me about it in the comments below.