What Is Doctor On Demand
Doctor on Demand aims to improve access to affordable, patient-first healthcare.
The service takes a combined approach to virtual healthcare by connecting you with a full range of certified, experienced medical and mental health care professionals. You can access care over your computer or via the smartphone or tablet app.
You can use this platform for help with a variety of conditions, including:
- mental health conditions
You can also use Doctor on Demand for preventive health and wellness checkups.
If youre interested in therapy or psychiatry services but not sure exactly what kind of support you need, Doctor on Demand can help with that, too. Their free assessment helps screen for anxiety and depression before you even sign up. This can give you a better understanding of the level of distress youre dealing with daily.
Although the assessment only asks questions about depression and anxiety, Doctor on Demand does offer support for plenty of other mental health symptoms and conditions, too. These include bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder , insomnia, and substance use disorders.
- downloading the app from or the App Store
- accessing the patient platform from your computer FYI, youll need to use Google Chrome and have an active webcam and microphone
Once you make an account, you can fill out your health history and begin browsing healthcare professionals who provide treatment in your state.
What Does Doctor On Demand Treat
Doctor on Demands services fall under the following categories, urgent care, behavioral health, preventative health, and chronic care. Within these broad categories, you can access care for medical conditions, ranging from short-term ailments like coughs, fever, and sore throats to more chronic problems such as diabetes, anxiety, and vitamin deficiencies.
While the list of conditions is quite broad, the services website does list a number of conditions that cant be treated. These include more severe problems, such as broken bones, serious burns, and ear infections.
/7 Everyday Care In Less Than 15 Minutes
When you or your dependents need urgent care, use Telehealth virtual care services provided by Doctor On Demand to save time and money. Connect with a US board certified doctor 24/7via your smartphone, tablet, computer, or app from anywhere in the world1. For concerns such as bronchitis, sinus issues, pink eye, UTIs or skin rashes.
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Virtual Specialty Care Faqs
What is Virtual specialist care?
Virtual specialist care is delivered by carefully selected specialist providers who are trained to deliver virtual care for specific conditions or areas of focus. These Virtual specialist providers meet quality care standards and offer personalized care plans to meet your needs. This care may be through video, phone, chat, or email depending on your care need.
Good Reviews About Doctor On Demand
Doctor on Demand customer service was receptive, easy to get in touch with, empathetic and patient. I can not recommend this app and service enough to friends and family.
If I had known that I would find a doctor that truly cared a long time ago, I would have chosen doctors on demand. Thanks again for caring about my health Dr. Alba!
It took me maybe 10 minutes to set up my account and enter my health information and within 3 minutes of submitting my request to see a doctor, I was speaking with Dr. Oh.
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What Are Current Legislative Proposals To Expand Medicare Coverage Of Telehealth
Policymakers are considering a variety of proposals to expand some or all of the existing flexibilities surrounding telehealth services under Medicare beyond the public health emergency, and many have expressed support for doing so. Among the telehealth-related bills that have been introduced in the 117th Congress are proposals to extend certain Medicare telehealth services and to permanently lift geographic and site-based restrictions for Medicare coverage of telehealth. Other legislation would permanentlycover some of the telehealth expansions provided during the public health emergency and expand the scope of providers eligible for payment for telehealth services covered by Medicare. Otherbills are aimed at assessing the impact of expanded telehealth services in Medicare and Medicaid on utilization of telehealth visits, including by demographics.
The Thin End Of A Digital Ecosystem
Its important to view the current use of tele-consultation as only the front-end of an increasingly digital healthcare ecosystem.
As Amwell founder and CEO Dr Roy Schoenberg says Were now looking at health in the same lens as when people bought books from Amazon, because that was the only thing Amazon was selling. But we completely failed to understand the dramatic impact of online retail, which was championed by Amazon.
Such technologies could include peripheral biometric technologies like connected glucose meters, and pulse oximeters, to help patients with pulmonary disease to be treated remotely.
For example, the diabetes management company One Drop sells a kit and app for measuring blood sugar levels and reporting the data to a doctor or other caregiver. TytoCare makes a handheld health monitoring device that includes a stethoscope, otoscope, thermometer, and a special camera. Data collected by the device is sent in real time to a doctor video-chatting with you on a companion smartphone app.
As Dr Schoeonberg says, Telehealth is going to be for everything, thats the corner that were turning right now.
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Can I Access Mental Health Services
Doctor On Demand offers both medical and mental health appointments however, we are still in the process of enrolling our mental health providers in Medicare Part B. In the meantime, we encourage you to book a visit with our medical providers, who are cross-trained in mental health services. Your medical provider may recommend that you continue treatment with a mental health provider.
Does Doctor On Demand Accept Insurance
Doctor on Demand accepts many different insurance plans with providers such as United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, and Humana.
Eighty-two percent of the users we surveyed were able to obtain at least some financial reimbursement from their insurance company, reporting that they spent an average of $222.99 per month out-of-pocket for services.
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Medicaid & Chip Telehealth Toolkit
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services developed this Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth toolkit to help states accelerate adoption of broader telehealth coverage policies in the Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Programs during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus emergency.
This toolkit provides states with statutory and regulatory infrastructure issues to consider as they evaluate the need to expand their telehealth capabilities and coverage policies. As such, this guide will describe each of these areas and the challenges they present including:
- Patient populations eligible for telehealth
- Coverage and reimbursement policies
- Providers and practitioners eligible to provider telehealth
- Technology requirements
- Pediatric considerations
This toolkit also includes a compilation of frequently asked questions and other resources available to states.
Doctor On Demand Vs Mdlive
Doctor on Demand and MDLIVE are both large-scale telehealth companies that offer medical services as well as behavioral services, including talk therapy, psychiatry, and medication management. MDLIVE focuses on medical, talk therapy, psychiatry, and dermatology, while Doctor on Demand focuses on medical, talk therapy, psychiatry, and preventative care.
Both can be pricey if you pay out-of-pocket, but they accept multiple insurance companies so you could pay significantly less if your plan is in-network.
- Doctor on Demand offers 25-minute sessions for $129 and 50-minute sessions for $179. Initial psychiatrist appointments cost $299 and 15-minute follow-ups are $129.
- MDLIVE sessions range from 45- 60 minutes and cost $108. Initial psychiatric visits are $284, with follow-ups costing $108.
In terms of user satisfaction, Doctor on Demand has a slight edge. Of the users we surveyed, 75% of Doctor on Demand said the services were very good or excellent, beating the 67% at MDLIVE that said the same. Eighty-two percent of Doctor on Demand users who had tried other services said Doctor on Demand was a little or much better.
However, 94% of MDLIVE users said they were very likely or likely to recommend the company compared to 90% at Doctor on Demand. A comparable number90% at MDLIVE and 88% at Doctor on Demandsaid they were very likely or likely to still be seeing a therapist at the company in 12 months.
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Bad Reviews About Doctor On Demand
I feel cheated because I had bad in-app experience and paid to see a doctor that wasnt able to keep her promise to get me the medicine I needed.
When I used it last week I was given a doctor who felt off right from the beginning: terrible bedside manner, and flat out told me my medical history was wrong.
After several positive sessions with one psychiatrist on staff who was treating my youngest, she simply stopped showing up to appointments.
Things Customers Should Consider About Doctor On Demand
Virtual doctor visits are charged in 15-minute intervals, so if a visit goes over 15 minutes, the patient is charged for another full 15 minutes to continue the session.
If the clinician decides a lab test is necessary, patients can visit a physical lab location with results sent to Doctor On Demand, but it can take up to 10 business days for patients to receive their results.
Patients who need prescription refills must schedule and pay for an appointment to request refills because Doctor On Demand is currently only able to supply automatic refills to patients being seen by psychiatrists.
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What Do Reviewers Have To Say
People using Doctor on Demand give the service high ratings.
- On the App Store, Doctor on Demand earns an average of 4.9 stars from over 102,000 reviewers.
- On Google Play, Doctor on Demand earns an average of 4.8 stars from over 50,600 reviewers.
A few reviewers report:
- technical issues, including difficulty scheduling an appointment
- long delays when waiting for an appointment or reaching out to Customer Support
- problems with their prescription being sent to the pharmacy
- therapists who cancelled appointments without notice
Others note that you cant directly contact your care team outside of scheduling an appointment. They say this makes it extremely difficult to ask a question about your medication, request a refill, or share new symptoms.
Doctor on Demand may be a good option for basic medical care.
They can also provide short-term professional support with:
- relationship-related stress or conflict
Therapists can also help you identify key signs and symptoms of mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, or PTSD and explore next steps toward getting support.
Doctor on Demand offers shorter therapy sessions, with no option to communicate with your therapist between appointments. You can keep scheduling appointments with the same therapist, but weekly sessions arent always a guarantee. As a result, this service may not be the best option when your therapy goals involve:
Doctor On Demand Medical Care Now Available To 33 Million Medicare Part B Beneficiaries
Doctor On Demand is the first nationwide, full-service telehealth provider to open up access following the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expansion of telehealth services.
SAN FRANCISCO—-Doctor On Demand, the nations leading virtual care provider, today made medical services available to 33 million Medicare Part B beneficiaries. This groundbreaking move improves access to high-quality, convenient healthcare for beneficiaries across all 50 states. Through Doctor On Demand, beneficiaries are able to easily connect with a board-certified physician of their choice over secure live video from home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Doctor On Demand is the first nationwide, full-service telehealth provider to expand its medical services to include Medicare Part B coverage following the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expansion of telehealth services in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Medicare Part B population consists largely of Americans over the age of 65, many of whom are considered at heightened risk during the pandemic.
Were proud to bring high-quality, compassionate care to Medicare beneficiaries who are especially vulnerable at this time, said Hill Ferguson, CEO of Doctor On Demand. We mobilized quickly to care for this population following the CMS update, and are uniquely positioned to scale quickly to meet anticipated demand.
About Doctor On Demand
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How Do Medicare Advantage Plans Cover Telehealth
Medicare Advantage plans are required to cover all Part A and Part B benefits covered under traditional Medicare. Additionally, since 2020, Medicare Advantage plans have been able to offer telehealth benefits not routinely covered by traditional Medicare , including telehealth services provided to enrollees in their own homes and services provided outside of rural areas. In 2022, virtually all Medicare Advantage plans offer a telehealth benefit. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 49% of Medicare Advantage enrollees used telehealth services.
Medicare Advantage plans are paid a capitated amount by Medicare to provide basic Medicare benefits covered under Parts A and B, including telehealth services. Plans are now permitted to include costs associated with additional telehealth benefits in their bids for basic benefits.
Medicare Advantage plans have flexibility to waive certain requirements with regard to coverage and cost sharing in cases of disaster or emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS has advised plans that they may waive or reduce cost sharing for telehealth services, as long as plans do this uniformly for all similarly-situated enrollees. Many Medicare Advantage plans havewaived or reducedcost sharing for enrollees for some or all services administered via telehealth during the public health emergency.
Can You Pick A Doctor On Demand Doctor
Doctor on Demand gives you the option of choosing your therapist from a list of professionals in your area. On the website or app, you can browse therapist biographies to help narrow down your search and choose to work with the same therapist over a long period of time. For medical doctors, a board-certified clinician is selected for you based on availability.
All of Doctor on Demands medical professionals are hired based on their professional credentials, and only certified doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists are chosen.
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State Flexibility In Covering/reimbursing For Telemedicine Services And The Application Of General Medicaid Requirements To Coverage Of Telemedicine Services
Telemedicine is viewed as a cost-effective alternative to the more traditional face-to-face way of providing medical care . As such, states have the option/flexibility to determine whether to cover telemedicine what types of telemedicine to cover where in the state it can be covered how it is provided/covered what types of telemedicine practitioners/providers may be covered/reimbursed, as long as such practitioners/providers are “recognized” and qualified according to Medicaid statute/regulation and how much to reimburse for telemedicine services, as long as such payments do not exceed Federal Upper Limits.
If the state decides to cover telemedicine, but does not cover certain practitioners/providers of telemedicine or its telemedicine coverage is limited to certain parts of the state, then the state is responsible for assuring access and covering face-to-face visits/examinations by these “recognized” practitioners/providers in those parts of the state where telemedicine is not available.
Therefore, the general Medicaid requirements of comparability, statewideness and freedom of choice do not apply with regard to telemedicine services.
The Promise Of Telehealth
For more than a decade, telehealth has been heralded as the next big thing in healthcare. Defined as the delivery of health care, health education, and health information via remote technologies, it promises a number of benefits.
Supplementing or removing in-person diagnosis and care offers cost savings and greater convenience for patients, allows payors to offer enhanced access to care for their members and allows full- and part-time medical professionals to be more efficient with their time.
Indeed, health insurance companies have been investing heavily as a way to bring down the cost of doctor visits, as the average costs for a telehealth session are $100 less than for a typical visit to the doctor’s office.
Before the outbreak, the global telehealth market was projected to grow from $25.4 billion in 2020 to $55.6 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 16.9%. And, for early adopters of telehealth, customer satisfaction ranks among the highest of any consumer category studied by J.D. Power.
But Never Realized
Yet, beyond those early adopters, further nationwide consumer adoption of telehealth has been stubbornly low, with less than 10% of healthcare consumers having used such services.
A significant factor is cost. The five biggest insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans, which serve about one-third of Medicares more than 60 million beneficiaries, have offered telehealth for several years. But traditional Medicare set strict limits on what is reimbursed.
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Does Doctor On Demand Take Insurance
Doctor on Demand does accept a number of insurance plans.
You can add your plan when you register to see if your insurance covers Doctor on Demands services. Once you create an account and sign in, you can visit the Insurance section in your account information to check whether your benefits apply.
The total cost of services will vary, based on your specific benefits and copay, so youll want to make sure you add this information before scheduling an appointment.
Youll be able to review the total cost of an appointment after your benefits before you schedule it.
In general, telemedicine options care can do a lot of good.
For one thing, a 2021 study has shown that telemedicine can increase access to professional support. Maybe you cant work with a local therapist because the ones nearby who treat your concerns dont accept your insurance. You cant afford to pay out of pocket but Doctor on Demand accepts your insurance, making your therapy visit affordable.
Recent research also emphasizes the added benefits of online mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting mental health support from home reduces potential exposure to the virus, since you wont need to commute, wait in an office, or talk to someone in person.
