Trios Health: Answering the call for convenient healthcare access

We live in a time that prioritizes efficiency. We wear many hats, juggle many balls and try to fit more and different things into our lives to keep our own sense of balance. More than ever, we appreciate — even expect — the ability to handle many things in daily life more quickly and easily. Technology has and will continue to be something we rely on to enable and support our increasing penchant for multi-tasking, and it has permeated the marketplace across countless industries as we learn to automate and digitize more aspects of our lives and work.

The healthcare industry is no exception to the continuing evolution of technology’s role alongside human activity. And Trios Health is excited to be jumping in with both feet to a new service model that melds technology and medical expertise for a convenient, effective patient care experience.

Launched in January 2017, Trios Urgent eCare is the first local service to offer virtual healthcare visits by telephone or video chat. Telemedicine, as this model of care is characterized in our industry, has emerged around the nation as a viable alternative to bricks and mortar provider visits in certain health scenarios. Now, it’s available to you, our community.

Imagine your child waking in the middle of the night on a Saturday with all of the classic symptoms of an ear infection, or arriving at work one morning with a painful urinary tract infection. These are normally things you might go to your primary care provider or an urgent care facility to have treated, and are fairly common scenarios.

It may also happen that your primary care provider isn’t available or the travel and waiting associated with a trip to urgent care is a challenge you’re not feeling up to. Now, imagine that the provider can come to you: Welcome to the virtual world of Trios Urgent eCare. It is designed to offer the same level of care offered by your primary or urgent care provider in cases of common ailments, with the added convenience of a virtual visit regardless of day or time.

Now you can initiate and complete a visit with a board certified medical provider from the comfort and convenience of wherever you are in Washington or Oregon, as long as you have access to a telephone or a computer or mobile device enabled with internet and web chat technology. You access the service by dialing in or clicking a link to establish a connection via the web, enter requested personal and payment information, and wait a short amount of time for a provider to contact you, usually within 15 minutes.

Another convenience of this new service is its financial simplicity. You pay a flat fee of only $39 for your visit, regardless of insurance coverage, which is comparable to many co-pays. If your eCare provider determines within the first three minutes of your visit that your current health concern is not appropriate for a virtual visit, you will be referred to alternative service options and will not be charged the $39 fee.

If your eCare provider determines that you need a short-term prescription — with the exception of narcotics or refills — they can electronically send that to the pharmacy of your choice. If you need follow-up care, they can help make any necessary referrals to additional local providers or services.

Our hope is that you’re as excited about this as a convenient healthcare option as we are to offer it to you. It has remained our priority to continue evolving with our community and industry, and to make sure you have the convenient access you want to the services you need — however, whenever and now wherever you need them. We will continuously strive to build and improve upon the care and services we have to offer you.

I encourage you to visit our website to learn more about this exciting new service option at www.trioshealth.org/UrgentEcare.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Trios Health: Answering the call for convenient healthcare access."