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Continuity of Care: Increasing Access to Care by Offering a Virtual Approach

September 10th, 2020 | 1 min. read

By Terry Layman

A Shift to Virtual Care

Marathon Health quickly adapted to meet the circumstances of the current pandemic without disrupting the level of care our patients expect by implementing a national virtual care program. As we state in our Pandemic Response eBook, in less than 10 days, we performed extensive outreach to our patient population to transition care from in-person to virtual, with a variety of access options.

Today, patients can see providers, behavioral specialists, or health coaches nationwide either in person, by video or telephone, eliminating the need to delay or defer their care.

By delivering care according to patient preference for in-person or a virtual approach, we are able to serve our patients and communities when and where they need it most. Keeping patients feeling comfortable and safe both in our health centers and virtually are of the utmost importance to us.

Take a look inside a Marathon Health center to learn what we’re doing to ensure this.

The Pandemic Effect

Amidst the pandemic, patients continue to face many of the same health issues and concerns that they always have. The difference now is that many patients are putting off health visits due to COVID-19.

Healthcare systems as a whole have had to shift the ways providers are able to provide the essential and necessary care in order to minimize the potential risk of patients and healthcare workers contracting COVID-19.

It is important to continue care as much as possible in order to avoid the consequences related to delaying preventive, routine, or chronic condition care. With care delivery options, such as virtual care, appointments are more readily accessible, especially for those who might be medically or socially vulnerable.

Many aspects of our lives were put on pause when the pandemic hit earlier this year. Patient health, however, does not need to be put on pause with the accessibility of virtual care and a connection to providers you know and trust.

For more information on our commitment to patient care during this time, take a look at our recent blog post.