Virtual care, also called telehealth, is a convenient option for patients to see their health care provider from home or other location, in place of making a trip to a clinic or doctor’s office. PVHC has provided virtual care services for 4 years and in recent months, staff have coordinated to expand the virtual care option for patients who see providers at Powell Valley Clinic. “I like virtual care for patients who need follow-up on things where they don’t need a face-to-face visit,” said Dr. Brittany Christensen. “It works well for following up with patients who have anxiety or depression, or those who have difficulty with transportation,” said Christensen. “There are some conditions where virtual care doesn’t work efficiently, like skin rashes or other symptoms where your doctor needs to look at what is causing the issue. But for things like checking how medication is working for patients with diabetes or checking on blood pressure for patients who are comfortable with taking their blood pressure at home, virtual care works well,” Christensen added. Virtual care is not a substitute for seeing your healthcare provider in person; however, there are circumstances where it is beneficial for patients, and offers a convenient option.
Some of the reasons a patient and their provider might utilize the virtual visit option include medication refills, medication follow-up, some mental health visits, Diabetes follow up, medical weight loss, sleep study follow-up, and a review of lab, imaging or other studies. A patient might also see his/her provider via virtual care for mild respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever, aches, or chills. Of course, severe shortness of breath would require the patient to go to the nearest ER.
Patients can go to Powell Valley Healthcare’s website at www.pvhc.org and click on ‘Services’ to find the ‘Virtual Care’ link. The web page has information about virtual care available at PVHC. In addition, when you have a virtual visit with a PVHC provider, you will receive an email with information about the virtual visit ahead of the scheduled appointment. Then, on the day of your appointment, a registration staff member will contact you via telephone approximately 10 to 15 minutes prior to your visit and walk you through getting started with your virtual visit. If you have any questions about virtual care at Powell Valley Healthcare, please call the clinic at 754-7257 and ask to speak to Rachel Bitton.
