Regence Targets Missed Wellness Visits and Check-Ups With New Telehealth Program

A Pacific Northwest payer is expanding its telehealth platform in hopes that its 3 million members will get the health and wellness checkups they’ve skipped during the pandemic.

Regence has unveiled Virtual Primary Care, aimed at self-funded members in Washington, Oregon, Utah and Idaho. The platform, managed by telehealth provider MDLIVE, allows members to connect online with a primary care provider for virtual visits.

“The need for safe and convenient access to providers is more essential than ever, and virtual care is a critical way to ensure our members can get the care they need,” Marion Couch, senior vice president of healthcare services and chief medical officer for the Seattle-based payer, said in a press release. “Virtual Primary Care allows members to see family physicians from the comfort of home for most preventive care services and common urgent issues like flu symptoms, leading to healthier outcomes.”

Like so many payers and providers, telehealth visits soared over the past year and a half as providers shifted as many services as possible from in-person to virtual care to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect both patients and staff. But most of those visits were for urgent or acute care needs, and many patients skipped annual and wellness visits, check-ups and even chronic care treatments that they felt weren’t necessary.

That’s causing a problem that the healthcare industry fears will expand in the near future. As providers return to in-person care or combine in-person with virtual care in a hybrid setting, they’ll likely be seeing an increase in conditions and care needs that should have been caught earlier, and which will be more serious and costly to treat. For example, people living with diabetes or high blood pressure may have developed serious health issues that need more effort to bring under control now, and doctors might also see an increase in cancer cases that should have been detected earlier.

Regence, which saw a 400 percent increase in telehealth visits, says the new service allows its members to access care they’ve put off or ignored, while also serving the estimated 35 percent of adults under the age of 50 who don’t currently have a PCP.

“Virtual care presents opportunities for breaking down many of the barriers that persist in consumers seeking preventive and other routine care services,” Cynthia Zelis, MD, MDLIVE’s chief medical officer, said in the release. “Closing gaps in access to primary care is a cornerstone strategy in supporting patients, improving outcomes and reducing costs.”