Submitted by: Jordan Michaels
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Service is first of its kind to empower patients with immediate, reliable access to their own trusted physician
SAN FRANCISCO – February 25, 2014 – Ringadoc, the industry leader in next generation patient-doctor communication tools, today introduced Ringadoc Phone Concierge, a virtual consultation service designed to introduce a convenient new first touch point into medical care for patients and their existing doctor.
“In an increasingly congested, expensive and reactive healthcare system, the potential benefits have never been greater to begin taking better advantage of technology to introduce new, lower cost options to guide and deliver care,” says CEO & Co-Founder Jordan Michaels. “If you aren’t the President or have a doctor in the family your only option when you get sick is to head to the emergency room, or wait, often for weeks, for the next available appointment with your physician. This standard of care is extremely inefficient from a time and cost perspective, but most importantly, it can easily result in patients getting suboptimal care, or forgoing care they need.”
To use Ringadoc requires no behavior change for patients. They simply call their doctor’s office and leave a message, which is delivered directly to the doctor’s mobile app and allows the doctor to instantly connect to speak with the patient with the click of a button. For the convenience of on-demand access, patients pay a small fee of around $40, similar to a standard insurance co-pay for an office visit and significantly less expensive than a trip to urgent care. Patients can pay with their Flexible Spending Account, Health Savings Account, or major credit card.
These on-demand, virtual consultations represent an ideal setting for patients to get help navigating the first steps of any new medical issue. Patients can review their symptoms in real time, renew their prescriptions, get a referral to a specialist, or determine whether an ER or urgent care visit is necessary, for example. “We give practices the tools to more efficiently manage their patient population, generate additional revenue, and make their patients happier by offering the type of premium access typically reserved for only the wealthy,” say Michaels.
In contrast to predecessor telehealth companies that connect patients with a random healthcare provider that a patient has never met, Ringadoc is specifically designed to connect patients with their own doctor, leveraging the doctor’s familiarity with the patient’s medical history to broaden the scope and increase the quality of care. “Knowing the patients I’m talking to has helped me more reliably identify whether it is an issue I can resolve right then and there, or if it requires follow-up. Patients that have been able to reach me directly have easily saved thousands of dollars in unnecessary Emergency Room visits simply because I know their history and can better interpret their story.” says Dr. Patterson of Back to Basics Medical, a medical practice in North Carolina. “My patients recognize Ringadoc is a valuable service and are more than willing to pay a reasonable amount to be able to have immediate access to me outside of an office visit at their convenience,” says Dr. Patterson.
In just under a year since launch, Ringadoc’s HIPAA compliant communication platform has automated over 900,000 calls and has helped over 1,000 healthcare providers and 1.5 million patients across the nation better communicate. Providers who use Ringadoc have an average response time of less than 3 minutes, proving that the platform is the quickest and most convenient way to virtually get in touch with your doctor.
Key Facts
- Ringadoc Phone Concierge is a simple service that makes it easy to connect instantly with your personal doctor for a convenience fee outside of insurance coverage – rather than a random doctor drawn from a network
- According to a Commonwealth Fund study, two-thirds of Americans report difficulty getting an appointment or telephone advice
- Millions of new Obamacare patients are being added to the system, increasing competition for a doctor’s already limited time
- 70% of patients are comfortable communicating with their doctor outside their office according to Cisco and 93% of patients believe one provider should be responsible for their care
- According to a Physicians Foundation study doctors provide over $25,000 in uncompensated care each year with prescription refills alone costing $10,000 (SureScripts study)
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To learn more about Ringadoc visit www.ringadoc.com.
About Ringadoc
Ringadoc is the leader in virtual patient-doctor engagement. Ringadoc’s communication platform empowers doctors by giving them the ability to triage patient calls, centralize communications, and manage their patient population on any device. Ringadoc’s network of over 1,000 healthcare professionals serves 1.5 million patients across the country. Based in San Francisco, Ringadoc is backed by top Silicon Valley investors including FF Angel. To learn more about Ringadoc, visit ringadoc.com.
Press Contact – Katrina Razavi
Email: [email protected]
Location: San Francisco
Phone: 415.735.4303
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