In this Discussion you are asked to take on a specific role as you work through the opportunities and challenges related to the evolution of e-Patient models and online service delivery.

By participating in this dynamic Discussion you will be able to critically assess different stakeholder perspectives on eHealth. This exercise allows you to develop a key leadership skill, which is a sense of perspective and sensitivity to multiple views on a complex topic.

Scenario: Dynamic Health System has implemented the Epic Electronic Health Record and the integrated patient portal. The portal is branded as "myDynamic Health" and is used for basic functions such as: prescription refills, self-scheduling, reporting results, and referrals.

Dynamic primary care doctors want to begin to offer electronic care (virtual) visits online for non-urgent illness to compete with the growing number of stand-alone urgent care centers and pharmacy urgent care clinics in their area.

The physicians have read literature from other sites in the U.S. where eVisits are conducted on existing patients and paid for by private insurance and self-pay patients. They are anxious to get started and are looking toward a newly formed committee of top administrators at Dynamic and some external stakeholders to formulate a plan.

To prepare:

Read the Learning Resources and investigate the literature related to existing eVisit models. Examine any online care models in your area as well.

Discuss the concept of online patient care with stakeholders such as administrators, physicians, nurses, or payers in your area.

For this Discussion Question, each student is assigned a role as a commercial payer.

Post:

Using Dynamic Health System as a scenario, respond to the proposed idea of Dynamic deploying online primary care visits. From the perspective of your role, what are the benefits of online visits? What are the concerns?