American Well, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), and Walgreens have collaborated to make telehealth services available to thousands of BCBSNC employees located throughout North Carolina. Walgreens Take Care Health System will manage the on-site BCBSNC centers.
The service called OnLineCareNC enables BCBSNC employees from their home and at virtual clinics located at corporate headquarters in Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C., to receive a healthcare consultation from credentialed Take Care nurse practitioners, health coaches, or nutritionists though two-way video, secure text chat, or phone.
During each online visit, Take Care healthcare providers will be able to review the employee’s available clinical information, discuss symptoms, and recommend follow-up care as appropriate to established patients. The telehealth system will automatically create a complete electronic record for each online visit to help support continuity of care and collaboration among the providers caring for employees.
Telehealth service offerings are undergoing rapid adoption by insurers and employers across the U.S. to meet employer and consumer demand for convenient and cost effective care. OnlineCareNC provides a convenient and cost effective option for BCBSNC employees who are more actively looking for ways to manage their own medical costs.
“Healthplan and employer sponsored telehealth solutions are gaining momentum nationally and globally as they prove to increase access to care and to start to rein in costs,” said Ido Schoenbery, M.D Chairman and CEO of American Well Inc. “Online Care is increasingly being embraced as it delivers on the promise to lower costs while increasing patient access to immediate, real-time healthcare when and where it is needed.”
