Virtual Walk-In Clinic

A new service based in California offers a creative approach to dealing with the rising costs and decreased productivity for doctor's office visits. Doctors on Demand Health Networks provides a virtual walk-in clinic for patients seeking quick, non-emergency related health care. The network consists of a pool of licensed physicians who are seeking additional work hours without the need to hire more staff to assist in scheduling and record keeping. A doctor in the network simply notifies the system when he or she has had a patient cancellation and the network will attempt to match someone in need to that doctor at that open appointment time.

Patients enroll in the service by phone through an IVR system that collects their contact information, medical histories and current health issues. Doctors who are available for an appointment can listen to the patient medical histories as well as voice notes left by other doctors in the system. The system then notifies the patient of the appointment with the best available doctor for the particular health issue. After the appointment, the doctor can then use the IVR system to record notes on the visit. Additionally, the system handles billing and electronic record keeping for the visit.

This is, of course, not a replacement for traditional family practitioners nor is it legally allowed as primary care. Rather, it is a way for doctors who have spare time and desire for extra work to help more people. Furthermore, this approach could potentially be employed by other appointment-based businesses in an effort to cut costs and improve efficiency.