DeWITT, N.Y. — One of the criteria that Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (Excellus BCBS) used in selecting MDLIVE as the technology platform for its telehealth benefit was the ability to offer participation to local physicians.

“So MDLIVE is an open network and local physicians have the opportunity to go through the credentialing process and to become a participating provider with MDLIVE, which we thought was important relative to our local physician community,” said James Reed, regional president of Excellus BCBS.

Representatives from MDLIVE are speaking with local physicians about the opportunity to join that network, he added. Reed talked to reporters during a Nov. 29 news conference at the Excellus office in DeWitt.

Rochester–based Excellus is Central New York’s largest health insurer.

MDLIVE is a Sunrise, Florida–based “telehealth provider of online and on-demand health-care delivery services.”

All of MDLIVE’s doctors are board certified and licensed in the state of New York, said Leslie Courtney, senior VP of MDLIVE.

“MDLIVE providers cover the entire country, however, so if one of your members is out of state, vacationing, traveling on business … they would be allowed access to a doctor that’s licensed in that state in which they are at the time of the visit,” said Courtney in response to reporter’s question at the press conference.

She also provided a demonstration of the web portal, which is available for members through the website of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

“It’ll be a service available beginning in 2017 through our website,” said Reed. 

Members can either take the next available doctor-on-call or they can choose from one of the providers that are listed with availability within the network, said Courtney.

“…and the choosing option allows them to schedule a specific time of day,” she added.

The MDLIVE doctors go through a “rigorous” credentialing process, according to Courtney. It is accredited through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its credentialing process, she added.

Washington, D.C.–based NCQA is a nonprofit that on its website indicates “organizations incorporating the seal into advertising and marketing materials must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance.” 

“[Our doctors] are throughout the country. They’re in each state … Some of them are working in a brick-and-mortar clinical setting. Some of them are working out of their home offices at the time of the visit,” said Courtney.

Dr. Richard Lockwood, VP and chief medical officer of Excellus BCBS’s Central New York region, said the health insurer has been introducing MDLIVE to local doctors and admitted “yes, there has been some pushback.”

“We’re trying to educate them on what the service is about. It’s not to take away from them, but to increase availability, accessibility, timeliness of visits that they may not always be able to provide,” said Lockwood in answering a reporter’s question during the Nov. 29 news conference.

Relying on data from the New York State Department of Health labeled “potentially preventable” emergency-room visits, Excellus  reported earlier this year that 10 common conditions account for more than 2 million annual visits to hospital emergency rooms statewide, and nine out of 10 of those could have been avoided or treated elsewhere. 

Of 6.4 million emergency-room (ER) visits in 2013, more than 2 million were for common conditions, such as ear or sinus infections and sore throats.

“When 2 million visits are for these 10 common conditions going to the ER, they weren’t going to their primary-care physician, so we’re giving people an alternative,” said Lockwood.  

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com