Research has shown many patients use EDs to access urgent care, rather than real emergency services, Jason Hockenberry, PhD, a health policy professor at Atlanta-based Emory University, told WABE.
BCBS of Georgia’s new policy aims to redirect patients to either urgent care clinics or its LiveHealth Online telehealth app as a means of de-cluttering EDs and reducing cost of care, WABE reports.
“We’re not trying to steer people away from the emergency room if they have a serious condition,” Debbie Diamond, director of publications for BCBS of Georgia, told Becker’s Hospital Review last month. “If a member is having chest pain that they think is a heart attack, they should still go to the emergency department.”
More articles on telehealth:
Pennsylvania healthcare network taps Teladoc to reduce readmissions
Patients may prefer hearing ‘serious’ healthcare results via video, study finds
Vermont governor signs telemedicine bill into law
