WOONSOCKET, R.I., Aug. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- New data from
the CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) Research Institute demonstrates very
high levels of patient satisfaction with the quality of care
delivered via telehealth at MinuteClinic retail medical clinics.
Satisfaction with quality of care and other factors were measured
among patients participating in a pilot program of telehealth care
rolled out at MinuteClinic locations in California and Texas in 2014, and the findings were published
on-line in the Journal of General Internal
Medicine.
"In the United States today,
approximately a quarter of patients do not have a primary care
provider or have incomplete access to one," said William Shrank,
M.D., chief scientific officer, CVS Health. "This lack of access,
combined with an increased demand for care resulting from expanded
coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and the challenge of
finding convenient care for patients balancing work and personal
responsibilities, necessitate exploration of alternative, high
quality care options such as telehealth in the MinuteClinic
setting."
The study evaluated de-identified responses from more than 1,700
patients who participated in the MinuteClinic telehealth pilot.
Patients had services at a CVS MinuteClinic location, provided by a
remote clinician using telehealth technology. Patients were asked
if they had health insurance and a primary care provider and rated
their satisfaction with a number of measures associated with their
telehealth visit, including quality of care and convenience.
Patients were also asked to rank their experience of a telehealth
visit as compared to that of a traditional visit, when the patient
and a health care provider are face-to-face, in the same room.
Overall, 95 percent of patients were highly satisfied with the
quality of care they received, the ease with which telehealth
technology was integrated into the visit, and the timeliness and
convenience of their care. In addition, one-third of patients
indicated that they preferred a telehealth visit to a visit with a
clinician in the same room, in particular those patients without
health insurance, and nearly all found telehealth to be just as
good as or better than a traditional visit.
"MinuteClinic has long been focused on providing accessible,
high quality, affordable health care that is complementary and
supportive of the primary care provider," said Andrew Sussman, M.D., President,
CVS/minuteclinic, and executive vice president/associate chief
medical officer, CVS Health. "Telehealth provides us with an
opportunity to offer convenient, high quality care to an extended
group of patients and this data confirms that patients are highly
satisfied with this new type of health care provider visit."
As a health care provider, MinuteClinic is focused on delivering
high quality, accessible care for common illnesses. MinuteClinic is
committed to continuity of care, fully supports the physician-led
medical home and believes that MinuteClinic can play a
complementary role with primary care practices in providing care to
patients. MinuteClinic is affiliated with more than 60 major health
systems around the country to improve collaboration, integrate
medical records and collaborate on chronic disease care.
The CVS Health Research Institute is focused on contributing to
the body of scientific knowledge related to pharmacy and health
care through research collaborations with external academic
institutions, participation in federally-funded research, analysis
and sharing of CVS Health data sources and coordination of pilot
programs and initiatives. CVS Health Research Institute findings
support a continuous quality improvement environment, which
encourages product innovation and development to benefit CVS Health
patients, clients and their members.
About CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy
innovation company helping people on their path to better health.
Through its 7,800 retail drugstores, nearly 1,000 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 70
million plan members, and expanding specialty pharmacy services,
the Company enables people, businesses and communities to manage
health in more affordable, effective ways. This unique integrated
model increases access to quality care, delivers better health
outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more
information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at
www.cvshealth.com.
Media
Contacts:
|
|
Christina
Beckerman
|
Brent
Burkhardt
|
CVS
Health
|
TBC (for
MinuteClinic)
|
(401)
770-8868
|
410-986-1303
|
christina.beckerman@cvshealth.com
|
bburkhardt@tbc.us
|
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SOURCE CVS Health