myVisitNow®—24/7 Online Doctor Visits

Information for Health Care Providers

MVP Health Care^® (MVP) offers myVisitNow, a telemedicine benefit powered by American Well, where eligible MVP members can access health care professionals through a smartphone, tablet, or computer with a web cam from the comfort and convenience of their home, or anywhere in the United States. Members can access adult and pediatric urgent care doctors 24/7/365, and conveniently self-schedule appointments with behavioral health specialists, psychiatrists, dietitians, and lactation consultants.

Five things you should know about myVisitNow that you might not have known before:

 myVisitNow is not meant to replace the very valuable Primary Care Physician (PCP).

By offering myVisitNow, MVP is giving members more options and greater access to care.

myVisitNow is less expensive than urgent care and low-acuity emergency room visits, but the cost-share for members who use the benefit is equivalent to a PCP sick visit.

With the behavioral health and psychiatry services, myVisitNow allows members to receive treatment in the comfort of their own home, which removes a possible reason to skip appointments.

Join the Online Care Group and you can be a myVisitNow provider too!

 

Answers to your questions:

• Who can access this service?

  myVisitNow is a covered benefit for all MVP members of fully insured plans as well as Medicare, Medicaid, and Essential Plans. Self-funded (ASO) groups may choose to add this benefit at an additional cost.

  
  

• What types of health care professionals will an MVP member be able to connect with online?

  • 24/7 Urgent Care: emergency, medical primary, family physicians, and pediatricians
  • Behavioral Health: licensed social workers and PHD-level psychologists, who can listen, offer coaching, help direct members to the care they need, and promote well-being by preventing or intervening in mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety, and providing support for individuals
  • Psychiatry: psychiatrists, who can evaluate mental health concerns, determine a need for ongoing therapy or counseling, and make recommendations or prescribe medications, as appropriate (with the exception of controlled substances)
  • Nutrition and Wellness: registered dieticians and lactation consultants

  The most common urgent care and behavioral health diagnoses include: sinusitis, upper respiratory infections/flu, pharyngitis, skin disorders, urinary tract infection, bronchitis, conjunctivitis, earache, back pain, stress, mood disorders, insomnia, and eating disorders.

   

  
  

• How can Primary Care Physicians (PCP) receive copies of summaries from a myVisitNow visit?

  If MVP has a PCP on record for the member, a letter will be automatically generated and sent to the member’s PCP within a few days of an urgent care visit. This letter includes information such as the date of the visit and up to three diagnosis codes. Members can also download or print visit summaries to share with their PCP.

  
  

• Are there any risks to a provider’s quality and performance rates when their patients use myVisitNow instead of going to the provider’s office?

  myVisitNow visits will generally impact a physician’s quality scores in the same way their patient’s use of brick-and-mortar urgent care centers might – both positively and negatively (they may be excluded from some measures). MVP has reviewed the possible impact on various measures and it appears that, overall, the effect should be neutral or slightly positive.

  
  

• Who are MVP’s partners in bringing this telemedicine benefit to MVP members?

  MVP is working with American Well, a leading telehealth technology platform, and the Online Care Group (OCG), the American Well affiliated virtual provider group.

  
  

• What is the Online Care Group network of health care professionals?

  OCG is the nation’s first and largest primary care group devoted to telehealth. We invite MVP-participating health care providers to join an already well-established and reputable national network to provide these services.

   

  Here are some other facts about the network:

  • National, telehealth-only physician network
  • Employed physicians, not a call center
  • Board-certified, multi-state licensure
  • Credentialed to NCQA/URAC standards
  • 24/7/365 availability
  • Average wait time is less than six minutes

   

  Behavioral Health Facts

  • More than 400 network providers
  • Access standard goals are seven days from request for therapy/counseling services (appointments available seven days per week, 7 am–11 pm in each time zone)
  • Therapy/counseling services are currently available within one day of request
  • Self-scheduling feature

  
  

• What standards are in place to ensure MVP members will see highly-qualified health care professionals?

  All health care professionals in OCG:

  • Have an average 15 years of experience in primary and urgent care
  • Are U.S. board-certified, licensed, and credentialed
  • Have profiles, so you can see their education and practice experience
  • Are rated by other patients, so you can review and select the doctor that meets your needs

  
  

• How can an MVP-participating provider join OCG and offer online visits to MVP members?

  MVP providers may contact American Well directly to begin the process of joining OCG.

  • Visit americanwell.com and select Group Practices, and then Join Online Care Group for information
  • Providers may email a CV to ocg.recruiting@americanwell.com

   

  OCG handles credentialing and training:

  • Providers complete an online application and background check
  • Once submitted, the approval takes 4–6 weeks
  • While waiting for approval, providers complete self-paced eLearning
  • Once approved, providers complete a “certification” session, which is a mock patient visit

  
  

• Can an MVP provider choose to see only his/her patients, is it limited to MVP members, or will they be scheduling online doctor visits with anyone, anywhere?

  If you choose to participate and you are seeing patients at the time they start an online visit, they can connect with you by using the search feature they will see when they log in online.

  At this time, MVP providers who join OCG do not have the option to choose to see only their patients. Provider participation in OCG is strictly voluntary with the understanding that patients may or may not be MVP members.

  In the future, local provider groups may be able to set up their own private practices on this platform. We will provide more information and requirements for groups interested in this as details emerge.