Fiserv Health Adds Telephone Medical Consultation
Fiserv Health, the country’s largest third-party administrator and business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), announced today that it is partnering with Teladoc Medical Services. Through Teladoc, Fiserv Health will offer health plan sponsors and their members routine, non-emergency medical care and convenient, cost-effective access to primary care physicians (PCPs), via the telephone.
“Teladoc significantly lowers the cost of medical care by connecting individuals to board-certified physicians who review the patient’s medical history and then address routine medical problems over the telephone,” said Michael Gorton, Teladoc founder, chairman and CEO. “This allows members to avoid the expense and time of urgent care facilities, emergency rooms or visits to the doctor.”
With a national network of state-licensed PCPs, Teladoc consulting physicians diagnose non-emergency medical problems and recommend appropriate treatment. To ensure access to care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, Teladoc uses a cross-coverage methodology as its primary delivery system to provide care.
Once enrolled, plan members, 12 years of age and older, simply call Teladoc to request a consultation. A return call from a doctor is guaranteed within three hours, at which point the doctor provides a brief consultation and can advise members on their next step, which may include prescribing short-term medication if appropriate (excluding DEA controlled substances). The prescription is then called into the member’s pharmacy and the patient may pick it up immediately.
“For emergency situations patients should still go to urgent care or call 911, but for non-life threatening illnesses, Teladoc is an innovative and proactive solution that addresses the costs of routine health care,” said Scott Hogan, Fiserv Health senior vice president, products and services. “Teladoc gives plan members access to convenient medical consultation at a lower cost, and gives our clients one more effective tool for controlling expenses.”
With the growing popularity of consumer-directed health plans, Teladoc offers a high-quality, cost-effective delivery system for routine health care. Since Teladoc consultations are provided for a flat fee, the Teladoc service integrates well with most consumer-directed health plans. In addition, Teladoc includes an electronic health record (EHR) that is available free of charge to both patients and physicians.
About Fiserv Health
Fiserv Health provides a full array of integrated health plan management, claims processing and administration services for self-funded medical, dental, vision and disability plans. Through sister companies Avidyn Health and Innoviant, Fiserv Health also offers care management and pharmacy benefits management. For more information, visit www.fiservhealth.com.
About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 18,000 clients worldwide and is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported more than $4.4 billion in total revenue for 2006. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.
