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WellSpan Health begins test of digital service that will ease scheduling appointments
WellSpan Health begins test of digital service that will ease scheduling appointments
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Adams County-based Littlestown Area School District’s 300 teachers, administrators and support staff can access their primary care provider online and at their own convenience through a new health care option offered by WellSpan Health.
After seeing its patients turn to technology for more than 545,000 digital visits last year, the York-based health system went about changing its online primary care service to Duo Healthcare, an online health care option that gives patients the same access to their physician that they would get in a brick-and-mortar office.
Duo Healthcare is still in its testing phase but for employers like Littlestown Area School District, the service gives employees the ability to schedule visits with providers over lunch or after putting the kids to bed.
“A year ago, we thought about how to put money where value is needed for our staff,” said Christopher Bigger, the school district’s superintendent. “We wanted our staff to have a convenient way to access healthcare without the huge investment of an onsite visit. We are working hard to find ways to help our employees in any way we can.”
Through Duo, patients can not only access the system when something is wrong, such as at an urgent care, but also communicate with their physician and monitor chronic conditions over time with connected devices such as scales and blood pressure cuffs.
“You do not need a visit to address health maintenance, routine labs or other testing. We review each patient’s chart every six months to see what testing is due,” said Dr. Brian Pollak, medical director of WellSpan Innovations. “We review any recent specialist visits. Then, we send the patient a portal message with our assessment of their health and recommended next steps, like going to a WellSpan Pharmacy for an immunization.”
WellSpan plans to make the service available across the midstate next year but it is offering interested local employers the opportunity to join the service’s testing phase today.
