UnitedHealthcare partnered with three platforms offering virtual physician visits for their plan participants to cover in-network members.
Here are five things to know about the partnership:
1. Doctor On Demand, a healthcare application providing video visits between patients and physicians; Now Clinic, Optum's telemedicine service emphasizing a consumer-centered model; and American Well, one of the country's largest telehealth services, will all be included as plan participants.
2. Those enrolled in a self-funded employer health plan will have the coverage options for virtual visits.
3. Employer-sponsored and individual plan participants will have coverage in 2016.
4. The cost of a video visit to the physician is $50, considerably less than a visit to a physician's office, urgent care center, or ER, according to a release.
5. UnitedHealth is developing telemedicine solutions that enable cost-effective healthcare from anywhere, especially applicable to those who live in rural areas, according to Jeff Alter, CEO of UnitedHealthcare's Commercial Group.