E-Visits and Video Visits at MUSC bring appointments to patients

Janet Martin used to have to go to the doctor four times or so every year to be treated for sinus infections. She knew exactly what was wrong, but needed the doctor to sign off on her diagnosis and write up her treatment plan. “I had to leave work, drive to the doctor’s office and sometimes sit in the waiting room.”

Not any more.

“All that is eliminated with the e-visit,” she said.

E-visits are electronic medical appointments that let patients with certain non-emergency health conditions go online, answer a few questions and get a response from an MUSC Health provider, usually within an hour.

“Within five minutes, my part is done,” Martin said. “It’s in the physician’s hands. In my experience, within 45 minutes, it’s completed. I receive a message within MyChart.”

MUSC Health MyChart is a free, secure, online tool that connects patients to their health information. It recently added e-visits as an option for patients. E-visits are now available for more than 30 conditions.

The most popular reason for an e-visit: sinus problems, as Martin can attest to. Urinary problems are the second most common choice.

Other conditions that can be treated through MUSC Health e-visits include allergic skin reactions, seasonal allergies, back pain, eczema, flu, gout, hemorrhoids, sexually transmitted diseases, diarrhea and red eye.

Edward O’Bryan, M.D., is one of the doctors treating e-visit patients. He said at $25 per visit, e-visits are a lot less expensive than urgent care or emergency department fees.

“They’re also able to save gas and transportation costs by not traveling to their doctor’s office,” O’Bryan said. “And patients’ regular doctors can see the details of the e-visits through MyChart.”

But e-visits aren’t the answer for everything, he said. “They are certainly not indicated for all of the conditions for which you would want to see your doctor in person, and are not intended to take the place of in-person visits.

“They’re meant to complement the relationship between the patient and MUSC by increasing the access points by which a patient can be treated. There are several conditions where an e-visit is appropriate, over 30 and counting, and if the e-visit is not appropriate, you will be referred for an in-person visit.”

E-visits are part of an effort at MUSC Health to make health care as convenient as possible for patients. Another aspect of that push: video visits. A patient uses a web cam for a real-time appointment with a doctor.

“Video visits can be used by new and existing patients,” O’Bryan said. “They have the same benefits of the e-visits with the bonus of being able to speak to your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant in real time. This allows for a very thorough evaluation and plan to be put in place and can potentially address more complicated issues.”

Video visits are currently available through some MUSC Health doctors, and there are plans to expand that to include a wider range of providers.

MUSC Health CEO Patrick Cawley, M.D., has played a key role in developing both video visits and e-visits. “Telehealth options, such as e-visits or video visits, are the latest advance to make it easier for patients and families to access medical care as well as help clinicians better monitor how patients are progressing,” Cawley said.

“At MUSC, we know that through telehealth, we can deliver world class medical care wherever the patient would like to receive it. This could be at home, a doctor’s office, another hospital or even while traveling anywhere in the world.” 

Martin, who actually works on patient health records at MUSC, is happy with the emphasis on using technology to make it easier for patients like her to get the care they need, quickly and conveniently.

“I have already recommended e-visits to others,” Martin said. “I tell everyone I know that I just love e-visits.”