Enhancing Healthcare with Chat-First Virtual Primary Care

CirrusMD, a leading provider of virtual primary care, is revolutionizing the way patients access and receive medical attention. At the helm of this innovative approach is Tanya Dillard, the SVP of Product Management and Innovation. Her team is dedicated to identifying and solving critical healthcare problems, translating these insights into cutting-edge products and services.

In this insightful interview on the future of virtual care with Talking HealthTech at HLTH 2024, we explore the the benefits of being chat-first in virtual care, the scalability and access it provides, how CirrusMD is using AI to enhance patient care, trends in patient satisfaction and access, and why doctors love practicing medicine on CirrusMD.

The Power of Chat-First Virtual Care

CirrusMD operates in the chat-first virtual primary care space, a model that offers a unique blend of accessibility and efficiency. The platform serves a diverse range of clients, including direct-to-employer, payer clients, and one of the largest health delivery systems in the United States. By leveraging a network of 50 state-licensed providers, CirrusMD ensures that patients can receive high-quality care quickly and conveniently.

One of the key benefits of the chat-first approach is concurrency, allowing providers to engage with multiple patients simultaneously, significantly reducing wait times. This model addresses a significant issue in traditional healthcare, where patients often face long wait times of 2 to 3 weeks or even months to see a primary care physician. With CirrusMD, patients can connect with a provider within 60 seconds, making healthcare more accessible and responsive.

High-Fidelity Patient Encounters

The chat-first model also provides a detailed, word-for-word record of each encounter. This high-fidelity data ensures that patients can refer back to their chat history at any time, eliminating the need to remember complex medical instructions or details. This transparency and accessibility are invaluable, especially for patients who might struggle to recall all the information provided during a traditional in-person visit. Chat and text based communication also enables real-time language translation as many employers have large populations of Spanish speaking employees who prefer to chat in Spanish.

Leveraging AI for Enhanced Care

From a business perspective, the high-fidelity chat data offers numerous opportunities. CirrusMD uses AI to analyze these chats, understanding the nature of the clinical issues and providing relevant resources directly to the physician to share with the patient, if it’s an appropriate resource. For example, if a patient presents with behavioral health issues, the AI can identify this and suggest additional resources, such as free behavioral health therapy, that might be available through their employer's plan. This not only enhances the quality of care but also ensures that patients are aware of all the resources available to them.

Patient Satisfaction and Return Rates

There are definite benefits to this unique model, and the data speaks for itself. CirrusMD boasts a 47% return user rate, indicating that patients value the quick and easy access provided by the platform. Moreover, the company maintains a 96% patient satisfaction rate, demonstrating that patients do not feel they are compromising on quality. Instead, they prioritize the convenience and efficiency of the chat-first model.

Engaging Clinicians

Engaging clinicians is a crucial aspect of CirrusMD's success. The company was founded by physicians who sought a more scalable and flexible way to practice medicine. By offering a different value proposition, CirrusMD has been able to attract and retain a dedicated group of primary care doctors who are passionate about transforming healthcare delivery. The platform leverages technology to enhance the provider's ability to deliver high-quality care, making it an attractive option for those looking to practice in a more efficient and patient-centered environment.

How CirrusMD is Using AI to Transform Virtual Care

At the 2024 HLTH AI Health Pavilion, Tanya Dillard joined Writer AI to discuss how CirrusMD uses AI to supercharge physician encounters. The conversation focused on how AI can provide actionable information during patient interactions, improving the overall quality of care. CirrusMD is committed to smartly integrating AI into care delivery, starting with low-risk applications and gradually building to more complex solutions — always in support of our physicians and never in front of.

You can watch the entire HLTH presentation with Writer AI here.

Future of Virtual Care

CirrusMD is at the forefront of the virtual care revolution, demonstrating that technology can enhance both the accessibility and quality of healthcare. By combining the power of chat-first interactions with advanced AI, CirrusMD is setting a new standard for virtual primary care. CirrusMD is solving three of healthcare’s most pervasive problems directly at the point of care: lack of access, lack of relevant information, and lack of care continuity. With a simple chat, the CirrusMD network of high-quality physicians is instantly accessible (<60 seconds), anytime (24/7/365), anywhere in the U.S. CirrusMD doctors are supported by a proprietary Clinical Intelligence Engine, which uses AI-based technology to mine the care encounter for underlying health risks, surface relevant benefit resources and update patient records via integration with a Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN).