Most people have experienced this frustrating scenario: You go to the doctor’s office for treatment or prevention services, and when you ask how much services cost, the answer isn’t nearly as straightforward as you hoped.
When you get your bill, either right after your appointment or in the mail, you notice unexpected costs (aspirin is how much?!), not to mention a hefty fee for the doctor you likely saw for a short time.
A big part of owning your health is knowing how much services cost.
That way, you can make the choices that suit your budget as well as ask for available financial resources that’ll assist you with costs or reduce them.
Health care shouldn’t be so complicated. But, unfortunately, it can be. That’s why our Care on Location team wants to make this part of your life as easy as possible. We believe your ability to choose what’s best for your health shouldn’t be affected by how confused you are about how to pay for it. You deserve good health, and you deserve to have access to the people who can help you maintain that health.
If you’d like to meet with one of our health professionals, we’re honored to have you! Here’s a look into what we offer and how much services cost — with nothing extra.
At Care on Location, our mission is to provide telemedicine services and care support that closes health equity and accessibility gaps for all Coloradans, especially Medicaid members.
That means if you’re a Health First Colorado member, Colorado’s Medicaid program, and all of our services and offerings (not including dietary) are completely free!
You’ve got enough surprise bills in your life, so we’re making the money part clear and hassle-free. Check out this chart to see the flat rates you’ll pay for our offerings.
SERVICE | COST (BASED ON SELF-PAY) |
---|---|
Urgent/Primary Care Cough and Colds Nausea and Vomiting Rashes Eye Infections Bladder Infections Back and Joint Pain (and many more!) | $69.99 FREE for Colorado Medicaid members |
Tele-PrEP (HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) We can help you complete these HIV screenings every 3 months right at home or we’ll set you up in a local laboratory. | $69.99 FREE for Colorado Medicaid members |
Birth Control Counseling and Management | $69.99 FREE for Colorado Medicaid members |
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy | FREE for Colorado Medicaid members (Not currently accepting self-pay clients.) |
Nutrition | $125 for the first intake visit with our dietician. Following appointments are $100 for 60 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. |
If you’re a private insurance policyholder, here’s how it works:
Although we collect your credit or debit card information, we don’t charge you on the day you receive services. We’ll charge the payment option on file for any amount your insurance doesn’t cover, and we’ll also process charges for any co-pays and deductibles.
Self-pay is super simple. You pay the cost(s) reflected in the chart shown above at the time of service.
Online video appointment visits with our skilled care team mean you get to meet with an experienced medical professional who’ll validate all your concerns in a judge-free zone.
We believe each patient is unique — our job is to listen to your concerns and use our expertise to guide you in the right direction for prevention or treatment.
Whether you have an urgent condition or a general medical issue, we’re here to put you at ease from wherever you are. All you need is a stable internet connection through your cellphone, tablet, or computer.
The length of your appointment may vary based on the service you’re receiving, but a typical urgent care visit lasts from 15 to 30 minutes. If you’re new to telehealth or telehealth with Care on Location, here are a few tips to help you prepare and set up for success:
Whenever you experience a concerning symptom, come talk to us. We’ll help you navigate what’s often a stressful time and give you the support you need to feel more informed about your body.
Care on!
Care on Location is responding to the current pandemic by stepping in to fill the gap in medical care. Many medical offices have closed or reduced hours, and patients are being strongly encouraged to manage their symptoms at home. As a result of this situation, telehealth has become a key solution to provide the care needed while allowing patients to stay at home. At Care on Location, we have over five years of experience providing telemedicine to our patients, and we now - more than ever - are working to expand telehealth in Colorado.
As a patient, you can access our providers directly through our ‘Get Care’ button. We accept Colorado Medicaid at no cost to you. If you are uninsured or have private insurance with a high-cost deductible, our COVID-19 reduced self-pay price of $69.99 is an affordable option.
With the increase of telemedicine utilization by patients, Care on Location has reason to expand. We’ve hired more providers to ensure that as the country turns to online care, we are prepared to manage higher volumes of patients.
Our efforts are also being applied on a broader scale across the state. We are currently coordinating with the Office of eHealth Innovation (OeHI) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to address state and community needs. This work has brought changes in state reimbursement and telehealth policy, as well as begun the effort to coordinate a state-wide telehealth response. We have recently rolled out our Test-to-Treat program where a patient presenting with risk factors, a positive home antigen test or PCR test performed elsewhere, and symptoms of less than 5 days duration can be prescribed an antiviral medication that has been shown to reduce hospitalization and death by up to 89%.
Many patients have been trying to connect with their own primary care providers and wait times to get seen can be too long such that it would be too late to treat COVID. We believe that there is a better answer to this problem. Our software solutions allow you to schedule and perform telehealth encounters through Care on Location when needed. Contact us today to find out more and get treated if you qualify.
In order to create a more comprehensive and convenient experience for you, we have partnered with QuestLabs, Labcorp, and Health Images to be able to get your blood tests and x-rays ordered directly from our telemedicine platform. Blood test ordering is available from LabCorp from Fort Collins on down to Pueblo, from Quest Labs from Northglenn down to Colorado Springs, and Radiology studies like X-rays and ultrasounds are available through Health Images from Longmont down to Castle Rock.
Here is how it works:
Here is an example of it at work - Have you injured your ankle and wondering if you need an x-ray? We are able to assess your likelihood of there being a broken bone. Using well-established medical guidelines, we might be able to avoid the need for x-rays completely. We will then suggest the best type of ankle support to use, possibly along with crutches. However, if you do need an x-ray, we can order it online. You can then go to any of the locations and get the test done. The results will show up in our system and we contact you with the results. We can then discuss further treatment and the healing process, and recommend follow-up if necessary. We can also send our notes to your personal doctor if you wish us to do so. All this without the crazy expense of ER visits.
Related to Care on Location providing affordable access to care from small businesses throughout the state of Colorado, a recent survey suggests that Workers' Compensation professionals also foresee and increased role of telemedicine in containing the rising cost of medical care for employers.
The Centers for Disease Control has suggested in prior publications that each employer loses about $1600 per employee per year due to absenteeism. This does not take into account decreased productivity while at work due to what is called "presenteeism" where the employee shows up but is distracted due to medical, behavioral or social issues. We believe that telemedicine can help both decrease the cost of care for the Workers' Comp industry as well as decrease the cost of absenteeism and presenteeism by providing convenient access to medical providers at a cost that is significantly decreased compared to the standard methods of seeking care.
Use the source link at the bottom of this post to read more of the original article.
Mitchell Survey Reveals More Than 45% of Industry Professionals Believe Telemedicine Will Have the Biggest Impact on the Workers’ Compensation Industry in the Future
By far, the key factor influencing the adoption of advanced technologies according to the survey results is their potential to increase the effectiveness of cost containment efforts (54 percent). Over the last decade, the workers’ compensation industry has faced rising costs while seeking ways to improve service to both injured workers and their employers. In 2016, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) reported that medical benefits on lost time per claim had risen from $9,000 in 2003 to $28,500 in 2015.
Source: Mitchell Survey Reveals More Than 45% of Industry Professionals Believe Telemedicine Will Have the Biggest Impact on the Workers’ Compensation Industry in the Future > www.mitchell.com
A commentary found recently in Forbes magazine lists Telemedicine, Data Sharing (think Apple Watch or Fitbit), and Artificial Intelligence(AI) as the top three trends in Digital Health. I would agree with all three. In particular I agree with Telemedicine and AI. Data sharing requires the patient to participate in collecting the right data and be willing to share the data. Additionally, it requires the abundant amounts of data to be correctly processed into a usable format and then the recipient of that data must be willing to incorporate that information into their regular workflow and also to know what to do with it.
Telemedicine on the other hand is as easy to accept for patients as Skype or Facetime has become. There are a multitude of layers of advanced telemedicine beyond that but the acceptance and take off of telemedicine is here.
Artificial Intelligence similar to Data Sharing does require significant amounts of correctly processed data, but the potential rewards of this task is so outstanding that this trend is worth pursuing full-tilt. I would dare you to find a doctor that is capable of analyzing the full history of research and patient case reports to provide you with a solid recommendation based on your specific situation and all of that data. These doctors are quite rare, the rest mainly practice based on relatively limited textbook and research article memory. Many of the recommendations doled out are based on training that may have occurred decades ago and occasionally based on bad information and habit. AI on the other hand has the potential to digest and codify decades of research and provide well validated advice based on your personal story. Of course, having a personal connection with a healthcare provider is important. They need to mediate the connection between you and the AI program, then to help you decide on the correct course of action if multiple options exist (there are usually many options to consider), next to implement that action as appropriate, and lastly to analyze the results to make sure that the outcome is as expected and readjust if needed.
Below is a snippet of that commentary originally penned by Amit Phull. See the source link below to read the full article.
--Care On
Telemedicine is taking off—for real this time
Remotely diagnosing and treating patients via telemedicine (the use of telecommunication and IT to provide health care) will grow fiercely in 2018 and impact nearly all facets of health care. More doctors will be able to see more patients in a much shorter timeframe, irrespective of their physical locations. As telemedicine adoption expands, it will be driven by stronger electronic health record (EHR) integration, and the growth of urgent care operations.Patients will see big benefits. Telemedicine will provide greater convenience and better access. Patients won’t have to take time away from work to be seen by a doctor, and those located in rural areas—where physician shortages are very real—will enjoy similar access to high-quality care regardless of where they live.
Source: Commentary: The Top 3 Digital Health Trends to Watch In 2018 | Fortune
Everything has it's pros and cons, right? Urgent Care video visits (telemedicine) is no different. Take a look at this list to help you understand where you may benefit and where problems may arise.
While there are some potential problems with the current state of telemedicine, overall, the benefits of access, convenience, cost, and quality make obtaining a lower cost telemedicine a worthwhile method of getting healthcare more many.
Care on Location offers urgent care video visits using background-checked experienced providers who have access to research-based nationally accepted care guidelines.