EZaccessMD | Lois Irwin | Telemedicine Companies

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IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH Top CORPORATE EXECUTIVES (727) 480-7070 info@ceocfocontact.com

Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor

Steve Alexander, Associate Editor

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EZaccessMD Lowers Healthcare Costs with Urgent Mobile Care

Lois Irwin

President

EZaccessMD

https://ezaccessmd.com/

Contact:

855-313-8145

info@EZaccessMD.com

Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFO Magazine

Published – August 30, 2021

CEOCFO: Ms. Irwin, what is the concept behind EZaccessMD?

Ms. Irwin: We are an urgent care service that actually comes to your home, a lot like the good old-fashioned doctor house call. In our model, you first talk with a doctor over the phone and then they order diagnostic tests like an x-ray, ultrasound or lab test, for you.

Our medical team comes to your house within two hours and performs those tests, getting results right then and there with the test equipment that we bring into the house. On the spot, we transmit the results to the doctor who calls you immediately. Based on your test results, the doctor discusses your diagnosis, your treatment plan, and a prescription if you need one. You are then on the path towards healing and wellness. A few days later, we call you and check to see how you are doing, making sure that everything is working out for you. If you want to talk to the doctor again, we put you in touch right away.

Our affordable, on-demand service appeals to employers who are trying to reduce their healthcare costs and give their employees better access to quality, immediate care.

CEOCFO: How are you able to make this happen within two hours, logistically?

Ms. Irwin: We serve most of the nursing homes around the country, so the delivery infrastructure is already in place. We have the technologists, vehicles, and equipment ready to go 24/7.

CEOCFO: How do you have enough people available particularly in crisis times?

Ms. Irwin: We are always over-staffed because our service promise is NOW. We forecast six months out and build additional capacity as needed. When a crisis happens, we might have to prioritize a more critical case over one that does not need the most immediate attention. In those cases, a non-critical patient might get pushed out a few hours beyond our normal service delivery, but we always get there the same day.

I am glad you mentioned crisis times because certainly we have been living through a crisis that none of us has ever experienced before which is COVID. Coming into the pandemic, we already had the ability to do a test for strep throat and the flu in your home and we just used the same device to administer a COVID test. So, we could leverage our portable lab infrastructure for the advantage of our patients.

Last year we were the first company in the country to be able to offer free in-home rapid COVID testing. It is no cost to the employee, we get there within a couple of hours, the testing takes fifteen minutes, and you get the results while we are right there in the home.

CEOCFO: What types of companies are taking advantage of your services?

Ms. Irwin: That has been a pleasant surprise to us. We have found that employers of all stripes see the value in our service for their employees.

Clients range from those with low wage employees, for whom the idea of going to an urgent care is scary because it is several hundred dollars, and even more if they need to go to the emergency room, to high compensation employers such as accounting firms who bill out at several hundred dollars per hour. All employers appreciate our convenience and the entry price of $4 per employee per month. That s it, no out-of-pocket co-pays, enrollment fees, or deductibles.

CEOCFO: Why is this not everywhere?

Ms. Irwin: Great question. Part of our challenge is to create awareness for our service. We often get that same question – “This seems too good to be true!” and “Why isn’t everyone else doing this?” We are doing our best to educate decision-makers such as CFOs and CEOs who make the employee health benefits decisions for their companies, to see the value in adding this to their basket of health benefits. If we are able to reach them and have these conversations, then they see the value in it and sign up.

Choosing EZaccessMD is often combined with a decision to about health insurance. Our health program is not an insurance plan, but it works in conjunction with the health insurance choices that employers make.

CEOCFO: Are employees or people in general more comfortable because telemedicine is so much more prevalent today with using a service like this rather than looking for a regular doctor or going to their own doctor?

Ms. Irwin: Absolutely. During the pandemic, many people had a telemedicine experience and liked it. They realize it is a valid and effective way to receive healthcare, so they are much more comfortable using our service than they were a couple years ago when it was not as well-known to them. Not to mention the idea of staying out of a crowded waiting room at an Urgent Care. Our service is much more appealing from a safety perspective.

CEOCFO: How do you manage the oversight when you have mobile situations in different states; how do you keep track of what is happening on the ground so that the service people know what to do?

Ms. Irwin: First, we use technology to track the deployment of our service around the country, so we know the status of every consult and every home visit. Our care coordinators stay in close touch with the patient so they know when to expect the mobile team to show up in their driveway.

Additionally, we use a customer satisfaction tool called the Net Promotor System. About a week after a patient encounter, we reach out to every patient and ask them on a scale of 0-10 how likely are they to recommend this service to a friend or colleague. The result has been an overwhelmingly positive response.

Our Net Promotor score is currently +86. It has been sitting in the mid-eighties for several years, and that is the best affirmation that patients are having a great experience with our service. On the rare occasion that we get a less than positive response, we immediately follow-up with the patient and investigate our on-the-ground delivery and see if something went wrong and then we fix it. It is a wonderful feedback and improvement loop.

CEOCFO: Do you find that people expect a more friendly level of care from someone coming into their home, or does it matter to them?

Ms. Irwin: Of course they do and we make sure that we deliver on that expectation. First, it is basic human nature that people like to be treated in a warm, caring way and particularly with their own health. It is a little bit different than a plumber or electrician visit. It is very personal, right? We get very positive feedback, and patients are generally overjoyed that someone came right away. Just yesterday we received this note from a patient: Thank you, I got fast and easy answers from the comfort of home! And everyone is so nice!

Our employees are all certified, licensed, professional healthcare providers who have been doing what they do for years, until recently with frail elderly people. Our experience in satisfying that elderly population translates well when our technologists walk into any family situation. They are healthcare workers and trained to be compassionate, and they know that comes with the job.

CEOCFO: How is business these days?

Ms. Irwin: I am pleased to say that our business is growing, and we are adding new customers in different segments. When one manufacturer sees how successful we have been with a different manufacturer, the decision-maker has more confidence. Building that kind of referral network has been good for our business.

CEOCFO: Would you tell us about your utilization rate? On your site it shows that EZaccessMD delivers over 60% average client utilization.

Ms. Irwin: We do, which is a major differentiator with other telehealth companies. When we opened this telehealth space a few years ago, most of the industry competitors had utilizations rates in the single digits. Now due to COVID, many are now in the teens. We have consistently been in the 60% to 70% range because we do so much more than any other telehealth provider.

Our patients call us and get effective care instead of driving to the Urgent Care, so as we are able to educate them, they make that choice. When a patient is trying to triage their situation and consider, “Do I need to go to the Emergency Room?” or “Do I need to go to the Urgent Care?” they can talk with one of our board-certified physicians to help them sort it out, for free.

CEOCFO: Do you ever see a point where this would be available to the general public or is that a whole different situation?

Ms. Irwin: Over time we will be accepted and embedded into more and more health plans. The fact of the matter is that 157 million Americans get their healthcare through their employer and that is more than any other group - more than Medicare or Medicaid combined. It is really employers who are making decisions about what is in your health plan. As experience with our service spread, more people will see that this is an effective pathway to care with few barriers. Because it is so cost effective, more and more employers will want to include it in their plans.

CEOCFO: With so many companies to look at in healthcare and in general, why pay attention to EZaccessMD?

Ms. Irwin: No other company offers in-home care on demand. When you are able to offer a health benefit that both increases access to healthcare and reduces healthcare spend, you are helping your bottom line and employee satisfaction. In turn, this builds a better culture within your company and makes you more competitive for new hires. Employees think Hey - this is a great place to work because my employer cares enough about me to make healthcare available to me at no cost.

We encourage those interested in learning more about our services to visit our website at ezaccessmd.com.

EZaccessMD | Lois Irwin | Telemedicine Companies | Mobile Urgent Care Services | In Home Urgent Care Near Me | , Employee Health Services | EZaccessMD Lowers Healthcare Costs with Urgent Mobile Care | CEO Interviews 2021 | Medical Companies | telemedicine prescription, mobile medical diagnostics, remote physician, doctor phone consultation, phone consultation medical, in-home medical exam, mobile medical technologists, video medical consultation, video doctor consultation, In-home COVID-19 test, mobile COVID-19 testing, EZaccessMD Press Releases, News

Our affordable, on-demand service appeals to employers who are trying to reduce their healthcare costs and give their employees better access to quality, immediate care.
Lois Irwin

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