ChristianaCare Launches Virtual Primary Care to Improve Patient Access

ChristianaCare has launched a virtual primary care practice that aims to allow patients to build and maintain relationships with a primary care team through various communication channels.

Based in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare includes three hospitals, an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, along with home healthcare, urgent care facilities, and a freestanding emergency department.

To expand access to primary care, the ChristianaCare Center for Virtual Health has launched a virtual primary care practice to support Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey residents. Available by monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription, the service gives patients access to same-day appointments, extended hours on nights and weekends, and text messaging options.

Upon signing up, patients will select a care team to engage with, which includes a primary care provider, a nurse, and a patient digital ambassador, who can help patients navigate the service and technology. They will then receive a personalized kit that provides assistive tools such as blood pressure, weight, and temperature monitoring devices.

“Virtual primary care in most markets does not establish an ongoing relationship between the patient and the provider — it’s on-demand care with the next available provider,” said Sarah Schenck, MD, medical director of virtualist medicine at ChristianaCare, in a press release. “ChristianaCare Virtual Primary Care is different. We offer a personalized approach in which patients have the attention of their care team who are all focused on their specific needs and health goals. Each care team knows their patients and is actively working to help them reach their personal health goals. And when patients need specialized care or services, our providers have access to ChristianaCare’s network and the ability to refer to the trusted services and specialists a patient might need outside of primary care.”

According to ChristianaCare, the benefits of this program include the ability to schedule and communicate through text messaging and video, the option of engaging in same-day appointments, the rapid speed of referrals, and the ability to develop a custom Working on Wellness Plan to create goals for stress management, exercise, and nutrition.

The service is available to all patients ages 5 and up.

“At ChristianaCare we are reimagining health care by making it radically convenient and accessible, and by creating a unique and personal experience,” said Sharon Anderson, ChristianaCare’s chief virtual health officer and president of ChristianaCare’s Center for Virtual Health, in a press release. “The Virtual Primary Care practice goes beyond simply offering video visits to patients. We’ve transformed care so it no longer revolves around waiting for an appointment — it’s immediate, coordinated, continuous. Patients can now access virtual primary care 24/7 as well as a host of other health services — all through their computer, tablet or smartphone.”

Research has shown that virtual primary care can be effective. A study published in March showed that most virtual primary care visits did not require in-person follow-ups between 2020 and 2022.

Researchers reached this conclusion after reviewing millions of telehealth visits for primary care. These occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic for services related to family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatric primary care.

They found that 61 percent of primary care telehealth visits did not require an in-person follow-up within 90 days in the same primary care specialty.