Foremost, your insurance company is promoting telemedicine because insurance companies understand the benefits of services like HealthLens. The insurance companies have run the numbers and assessed the effectiveness of telemedicine, and have come to the conclusion that the use of telemedicine is beneficial for the patient. Not only is telemedicine much more convenient than a traditional office visit, but the proper use of telemedicine can catch serious conditions sooner and improve patient outcomes afterward.
Your insurance company is also promoting their telemedicine service to you for another reason. By pairing you up with a random healthcare provider on some discount telemedicine service, they are able to save costs. Although this is practical for the insurance company, it does not always guarantee the same level of care that your doctor can offer, whether through telemedicine or office visits. The leading telemedicine experts agree that telemedicine is best performed by doctors who are part of systems where patients already receive care.
When it comes to deciding what telemedicine service is right for you, choose the one that will connect you with a doctor that has already seen you in their office or can see and treat you in their office following the online evaluation.