Health eXpress app offers on-demand doctor visits

Do you need to see the doctor for an ache or pain?

There’s an app for that.

Health eXpress is a new service that offers video conferencing appointments that can be done over a smartphone, tablet or computer. The service is offered by Providence Health & Services, the parent organization of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Appointments cost $39, payable by debit or credit card, and are available to Washington and Oregon residents.

“We all know that we’re really busy, and sometimes it’s hard to get in to see a primary care doctor,” said Michelle Wernert, a senior product manager for Providence Health & Services in Portland. “This gives people on-demand access to health care.”

The appointments are appropriate for minor illnesses, such as colds, flu, bronchitis, rashes, ear and eye infections and lower back pain. If the health issue is more serious, the online physician will tell patients to make an appointment to see their doctor, or go to an urgent care center. In that case, Wernert said there is no charge for the online consultation.

Patients log onto the Health eXpress site, fill out a health questionnaire and connect with a doctor or nurse practitioner located in Portland. Health eXpress aims for a waiting time of less than five minutes. If the wait is longer, patients can get a text indicating when the doctor or nurse practitioner is available.

Most appointments last about 10 minutes. During the virtual visits, doctors and nurse practitioners can review medical histories, answer questions, make diagnoses and prescribe medications, though not narcotics.

The medical professionals sometimes ask patients to do things like open their mouth and shine a flashlight in so they can check for the patient’s throat for inflammation, Wernert said.

Health eXpress is among the first online appointment services of its kind in Eastern Washington, though telemedicine is used in other applications, such as connecting rural patients with specialists, said Liz DeRuyter, a spokeswoman for Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Rockwood Health Systems, which includes Deaconess and Valley Hospitals and Rockwood Clinic, also is interested in online appointments, said spokeswoman Jill Fix.

“We are developing a customized electronic platform for our patients and look forward to sharing plans as they are finalized,” she said Wednesday in a statement.

Providence Health & Services started testing online appointments two years ago in Oregon by setting up video-conferencing kiosks at large companies. About 60 percent of Health eXpress patients now use their smartphones for the appointments.

Wernert said the service is especially popular with “worried moms and dads,” who don’t know if their child is sick enough to require medical attention. “It takes the guessing out of it,” she said

Not all health insurance companies cover Health eXpress as a reimbursable expense. Providence Health & Services is working with insurance carriers to increase the number that do, Wernert said. Online consultations are a cost-effective way to treat many health issues, she said.

“Almost 30 percent of people who go into an emergency room or urgent care have a condition that could be seen through this,” she said.