Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare is launching 24/7 virtual primary care to provide the on-demand experience patients receive from other industries.
The seven-hospital system is rolling out HHC 24/7 on April 1, offering on-demand and same-day primary care visits via video and text to patients across the state of Connecticut.
“It’s a game-changer,” Hartford HealthCare President and CEO Jeffrey Flaks told Becker’s. “In healthcare, we must become more consumer-focused. And to do that, we have to disrupt ourselves. We have to do things very differently, and we have to be willing to attempt these types of changes.”
Hartford HealthCare partnered with virtual care company K Health on the technology but will be using its own providers, who work from home. An AI chatbot does the intake before connecting the patient with a live clinician. The program is currently staffed by seven virtual-only providers. On-demand wait times are expected to be less than 10 minutes.
“At Hartford HealthCare, we truly want to be consumer-centric now and in the future,” said Padmanabhan Premkumar, MD, president of the Hartford HealthCare Medical Group. “The vision of HHC 24/7 is to be there for our patients when they need us.”
Hartford HealthCare made a “meaningful investment” in the technology but one that will pay off through increased access and consumer satisfaction, Mr. Flaks said.
“It’s really a concierge level of service,” he said. “People get their goods and services delivered by Amazon immediately. They get their transportation from Uber immediately. They get their groceries delivered by Peapod immediately. So what people expect and want today is different.”
People won’t have to take time off or travel to see their physician either, he noted.
Hartford HealthCare wants to be a “house with 1,000 doors,” Mr. Flaks said, pointing to the health system’s primary care partnership with Amazon One Medical and urgent care collaboration with GoHealth.
Hartford HealthCare opted for K Health because its app and AI capabilities are “exceptional” and “very well-developed,” Mr. Flaks said.
He said the offering “squarely” fits Hartford HealthCare’s strategy emphasizing “access, affordability, equity and excellence.”
“We can’t solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions. We have to find new ways to do things,” he said. “We cannot allow people to wait seven to 10 months to see their primary care physician, three to four months to schedule their diagnostic and specialty visits.”
“We’re at the beginning of how this type of capability can revolutionize healthcare,” he added. “This is healthcare that works around you. As we’re reimagining healthcare, we have to figure out a way for healthcare to fit into your life.”
