Data Snapshot: How often do we really need to go to urgent care?
At Pager, we use our data to gather insights about the state of virtual care and the value it can provide for patients. In this series, we explore interesting and surprising findings that may point to what the future of virtual care looks like and what opportunities lay ahead.
In this edition of the Data Snapshot, we dive into the comparison of where patients in our chats think they may need to go for care, versus where nurse triage determines is actually appropriate.
Many people, when faced with an acute health issue, turn to urgent care as a quick solution – despite the wait times or costs they may face. In fact, we’ve found that nearly 38% of patients who used Pager would have gone to urgent care if Pager’s services not been available.
But how often is that really the most appropriate care to turn to? When can virtual care – such as telemedicine visits and chat-based nurse triage – be the solution instead?
When someone seeking care starts a chat with Pager, they are immediately connected with a nurse or care coordinator with whom they can discuss their health concerns or questions. Our nurses, supported by AI-enabled clinical bots, use their clinical knowledge to appropriately triage each individual – asking questions about symptoms, pain levels, persistence of an illness, any existing conditions, or anything else that may impact a diagnosis.
Once a nurse collects all the necessary information, they are able to identify what type of care a person needs: it may be a telemedicine consultation with a physician, an in-person appointment with a specialist, a visit to a walk-in urgent care clinic, or self-care at home. In severe circumstances, a patient may be recommended to go to the emergency room.
Lastly, as part of our post-engagement survey, we ask patients where they would’ve gone if Pager had not been available, and compare these results to which care or disposition Pager nurses directed that individual, such as telemedicine, at-home care, or a scheduled in-person appointment with a specialist.
Looking at our 2020 data, here’s what those breakdowns look like:
This information is provided via patient survey at the end of the chat.
We then took those survey results and ending care dispositions, and measured them against each other. We segmented the data by the patient provided ‘alternatively considered site of care’ and plotted actual ending dispositions for those populations. Here’s how these rank against each other:
What we found is that overall, 66% of all engagements are adequately treated with telehealth or at-home self care.
Additionally, we’ve found that 81% of people who would have otherwise gone to a walk-in urgent care clinic could be appropriately serviced by a telemedicine visit or by at-home self care. In fact, only 7% of the time did a nurse agree that a patient should seek care from an urgent care center.
While many people see urgent care centers as a straightforward way to access care, they could be met with long wait times, unforeseen costs, or put themselves at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Pager, many individuals can see a provider virtually (without leaving home) to get the care they need, refill a prescription, or get a referral to a specialist.
And, many patients can also get the peace of mind they seek from a nurse who can triage the severity of their health concern and refer patients to stay home if their health issue is likely to resolve on its own or with over-the-counter medication – saving money and time.
Learn more about how Pager’s virtual care solutions can connect patients to the right care at the right time.
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