Saint Francis Healthcare System now offering virtual visits

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Saint Francis Healthcare System is implementing new and exciting ways to continue providing the quality care you know and trust.

Patients can now request a virtual visit with their primary and specialty care provider at any Saint Francis Medical Partner location. New patients are welcome. A virtual visit allows patients to have a medical consultation with a healthcare provider using live video chat from the comfort of their home. All they need is a smartphone, tablet or personal laptop with webcam along with a high-speed broadband internet connection. The broadband connection needs to be strong enough to support high-quality video streaming.

Alex Ogburn, MBA, FACHE, Vice President of Saint Francis Medical Partners says patients can interact with their provider from the comfort of their home.

“It’s important for a few reasons,” Ogburn said. “Number one, we want our patients to be as safe as possible. The best way to keep our patients safe right now is to keep them at home and away from exposure. Number two, critically important to us, is keeping our physicians, our practitioners, our staff safe also. So, if we can avoid that exposure while providing care, we certainly want to do it that way.”

Most virtual visits can be performed on the same day they are requested. Virtual visits can be for routine care and some urgent care conditions. It is an easy way for patients to consult with their healthcare provider while reducing wait times. During this COVID-19 National Emergency, virtual visits are now a covered benefit by Medicare and most insurance companies. Patients can call their primary and specialty care provider office to speak with a nurse and schedule their virtual visit today.

“It’s effective,” says F. Michael Caldwell, MD, an internist with Physicians Park Primary Care, a Saint Francis Medical Partner in Poplar Bluff. “A lot of questions can be answered. So far I believe we’ve been able to see any patient who wanted to talk and be seen. You can tell respiratory rate and simple vitals. Most patients have access to a blood pressure cuff, and they can share their vitals with us. We’re able to access the lab work recently or anything in their past history in real time. It works well.”

Please note that some restrictions may apply for residents in states other than Missouri.