Essentia Health Puts Access to Care in the Palms of Their Patients' Hands with Essentia E-Visit

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Essentia Health has launched Essentia E-Visit – an online diagnosis and treatment service that puts care in the palms of people's hands. Through this online service, patients in the communities Essentia serves can seek care virtually from trusted Essentia care teams using their smartphones, tablets or computers – at home or on the go.

Essentia E-Visit is designed to help patients get the care they need; when and where they want it. Shaped by patient input, Essentia E-Visit is part of Essentia's patient-centric focus, which also includes changes at clinic locations such as extended hours, expanding urgent care locations and adding more clinics with weekend hours.

"Within communities we serve at Essentia, it is important to us that patients can access care. Convenience is a key part of the equation, but it's equally about fulfilling our Mission of being called to make a healthy difference in people's lives," said Melisa Palmer, physician assistant at Essentia Health Urgent Care and Convenient Care Clinics in Brainerd and Baxter, Minn., and also provides care through Essentia E-Visit. "Removing barriers to care is critical, and Essentia E-Visit achieves this by providing quick, convenient and accurate care."

Through Essentia E-Visit, patients can get care for more than 20 common health conditions, including cold and flu, pinkeye, bladder infections and minor skin conditions. After logging on to Essentia E-Visit, patients complete a brief online interview, answering questions about their symptoms and providing health history information. An Essentia physician or advanced practitioner will reiew the information collected and respond with a diagnosis and treatment plan within an hour – 24 hours a day. If medication is appropriate, prescriptions will be sent to the patient's preferred pharmacy for pick-up. Essentia E-visit is available to patients in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin for a set fee of $30 payable by credit, debit or health savings card.

To reach their goal of providing patients access to care when and how they need it, Essentia partnered with Zipnosis, a virtual care company that helps leading health systems facilitate convenient access to care, meeting the needs of both patients and healthcare providers.

About Essentia Health
Essentia Health is an integrated health system serving patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Idaho. Headquartered in Duluth, Minn., Essentia Health combines the strengths and talents of 14,700 employees, including more than 1,900 physicians and advanced practitioners, who serve our patients and communities through the mission of being called to make a healthy difference in people's lives. Essentia Health, which includes many Catholic facilities, is guided by the values of Quality, Hospitality, Respect, Joy, Justice, Stewardship and Teamwork. The organization delivers on its promise to be "Here With You" in 15 hospitals, 75 clinics, six long-term care facilities, three assisted living facilities, three independent living facilities, five ambulance services and one research institute.

About Zipnosis
Zipnosis (www.zipnosis.com) offers health systems a leading virtual care platform that pairs traditional telemedicine with next-generation online virtual care tools to drive exceptional clinical quality, significant clinical efficiency and durable financial returns. A trusted innovator in the industry, Zipnosis pioneered online adaptive interview technology, which is built on a foundation of clinical best practice guidelines. This smart alternative to traditional telemedicine allows providers to diagnose and develop a treatment plan for patients in just two minutes. With Zipnosis' unique platform approach to virtual care, patients can be treated through the online adaptive interview, video and phone technology, or when appropriate, referred to in-person care via the platform's advanced routing capabilities. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Zipnosis helps health systems keep pace with the changing demands of healthcare consumers.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/essentia-health-puts-access-to-care-in-the-palms-of-their-patients-hands-with-essentia-e-visit-300581468.html

SOURCE Zipnosis; Essentia Health

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]