Your Kaiser Permanente doctor is in---on your cell phone, laptop

Kaiser Permanente is utilizing more phone and video appointments as part of its telehealth program aimed at keeping patients and doctors safe during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Kaiser Permanente has been utilizing telehealth since the late 1990s, and this technology is now a key component of the health plan’s integrated approach to providing high-quality care. Kaiser Permanente is seeing an uptick in telehealth visits due to COVID-19, and is now conducting more than 65,000 tele-visits a day systemwide, 8,500 of them video visits.

“Kaiser Permanente is positioned well for COVID-19,” said Craig Wargon, DPM, and a leader in Kaiser Permanente’s Telehealth Program. “Telehealth at Kaiser Permanente has offered our members convenience when it comes to using technology for routine visits.”

During video visits, the patient and physician make a secure connection to each other through a mobile app from a Kaiser Permanente website. The patient can use a computer or a smart phone. The physician and patient appear on both screens as they talk to each other.

“We made this technology available to all our physicians several years ago,” said Dr. Wargon. “Because we had the technology already in place, there was minimal need for training when COVID-19 hit.”

A recent study found nine out of ten Kaiser Permanente patients who had a primary-care video visit were satisfied with the quality of care they received and felt their health care needs were addressed.

“My patients love it,” said Joyce Orndorff, MD, a physician at the Kaiser Permanente downtown Santa Cruz Medical Office. “The video visits are easy to do and most importantly, they are safe; safe for the members and safe for the provider, so we can be there for them.”

With California under a shelter-in-place order, Kaiser Permanente members don’t have to leave their homes to receive routine medical care, and Dr. Orndorff says that encourages social distancing and helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“My patients can get face-to-face interaction with me, they can show me how they’re feeling,” said Dr. Orndorff. “I can make better and more accurate clinical assessments, plus I get to see them again.”

Christine Levan, MD, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente’s Scotts Valley Medical Office said a video visit kept a new mom safe at home with her 2-month-old.

“Baby Evie was due for her two-month visit and her parents did not feel comfortable bringing her into the clinic,” Dr. Levan said.

Mom Kayla Maloney said it was very easy to connect with Dr. Levan by using her cell phone. Dr. Levan could see that Baby Evie is a thriving child, and Maloney said Dr. Levan asked basic questions about her daughter’s health that only took 10 minutes.

“I was relieved not to go into the office,” she said. “It was really cool to talk to the doctor that way.”

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