E-Visits offer quick connection to expert care

A smartphone alert tells Nurse Practitioner Christie E. Erickson that she has a patient awaiting an Essentia Health E-Visit. The new visits are available for 20 common health concerns and take five to 10 minutes for a patient to complete. Providers are available 24/7 and respond within an hour.

and offer treatment.”

Essentia E-visits are available for 20 common health concerns and take five to 10 minutes for a patient to complete. Within an hour, an Essentia Health physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner reviews the information, and the patient receives an email reply with a diagnosis, treatment plan and, if appropriate, a prescription. The email also includes advice on self-care measures and other information, such as a medicine’s potential side effects.

“The conditions we’re treating on an E-Visit are pretty straightforward,” Erickson says. “The questionnaire itself helps determine if a patient needs to be seen instead at a clinic because he or she needs a physical examination or something else, like a lab test.”

Since she began working on E-Visits last November, Erickson says her most frequent diagnoses have been colds and flu, pink eye (conjunctivitis), bladder infections, sore throats and rashes. One helpful feature, especially when it comes to rashes and pink eye, allows a patient to submit a photograph to help with a diagnosis.

As the flu season peaked, many patients used E-Visits to share their symptoms and get expert advice on whether they had the flu and needed a prescription or were at risk for complications. “A nice thing about an E-visit is that when you’re feeling really bad, you stay on the couch and have an appointment,” Erickson says.

Erickson sees many benefits for patients. E-Visits are available 24/7 by simply logging on with a computer, tablet or smartphone. Not only are they convenient, they save time traveling to an appointment and waiting to see a provider.

“E-Visits are health care’s way of getting in synch with our busy lives,” Erickson says. D

Connie Wirta is an editor for Essentia Health marketing. She wrote this for The Woman Today.