NY Presbyterian Launches Digital Health Services so Patients Can Avoid the Emergency Room

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — New York Presbyterian Hospital launched two online services design to connect patients with doctors at its Washington Heights campus and skip an emergency room visit.

And who wouldn't want to avoid the emergency room? Where the best-case scenario is maybe you don't contract five different strains of the flu while waiting in an uncomfortable plastic seat for three hours.

The hospital announced two new services Monday — Digital Urgent Care and Virtual Visit — which will connect patients with care providers from ColumbiaDoctors via real-time video.

"This is a significant next step in helping patients take better control of their healthcare, with the ease and convenience of virtual, on-the-go communication with NewYork-Presbyterian’s expert clinicians," Daniel Barchi, chief information officer of New York Presbyterian, said in a statement. "We are very excited to roll out these innovative care options through our NYP App."

Using the hospital's website or mobile app patients can access Digital Urgent Care to instantly video chat with an emergency room physician, according to a press release. Through Digital Urgent Care patients can discuss minor illness and ailments and doctors can asess patients to see if they need to come for an in-person visit, accoriding to a press release.

Virtual Visit is the more advanced option of the two new services. It allows xisting New York Presbyterian patients to set up a video conference with their doctor for a variety of different follow-up visits, cutting out the need for an in-person follow up. The Virtual Visit service could be used for pre and post operation visits, virtual psychiatry appointments and a number of other types of care, according to a press release.

"Mobile technology is revolutionizing how we define and offer patient care," Dr. Peter Fleischut, chief innovation officer at New York Presbyterian, said in a statement.

"With Digital Urgent Care and Virtual Visit, patients will have the ease and flexibility of accessing care from a location that is convenient to them."

Photo: Flickr user massmatt via creative commons