Through a recently expanded online program, Eastern Washington residents can obtain minor medical treatments and services without leaving their home or office.

Providence Health eXpress program, first launched in Oregon in 2012, was rolled out in Eastern Washington in mid-April after having been opened to Western Washington residents a month earlier, says Michelle Wernert, Providence Health & Services’ Portland-based telehealth program manager.

Providence Health & Services is the Renton, Wash.-based, multistate health care network that includes Spokane-based Providence Health Care Eastern Washington, which operates two Spokane hospitals and a number of medical facilities and services.

Health eXpress provides on-demand, secure video consultations for common medical conditions, Wernert says.

A Health eXpress visit costs $39, payable at the time of service via credit or debit card. The service is available to most people in Washington and Oregon with or without insurance, and some health plans cover telehealth visits as a reimbursable expense, she says.

The service is available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

Rockwood Health System, Providence’s largest competitor here, plans to offer online provider visits starting this fall, says Jill Fix, a Rockwood spokeswoman.

The service will be available around the clock every day, Fix says.

“Our program will offer patients a new, easier, affordable, convenient, and confidential way to connect with doctors anywhere, anytime,” she asserts.

Rockwood Health System, an affiliate of Franklin-Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, operates Deaconess and Valley hospitals, Rockwood Clinic, and other Spokane-area medical facilities.

Health eXpress is ideal in cases in which the patient isn’t sure whether a condition is serious enough for a doctor visit, Wernert says.

A Health eXpress provider can review a patient’s medical history, answer questions, diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications, she says.

“Providers are trained to provide eye contact and other techniques to make patients feel like they’re in the same room,” Wernert says. “Some patients say they really feel the provider is paying more attention. They are looking right at you on the screen.”

Among common situations, Health eXpress providers can diagnose and treat people with symptoms of minor conditions, including colds, coughs, allergies, flu, pinkeye, skin and nail issues, infections, and first-and second-degree burns.

“If you have a rash and you haven’t been able to see a doctor, sometimes we know what it is and can you can get a prescription,” Wernert says. “Sometimes we say you do have to go in and see a physician.”

Health eXpress doesn’t charge patients it refers to primary care or more urgent care, she says.

Danita Petek, a Spokane-based marketing manager for Providence Health Care, was one of the early adopters of Health eXpress as it became available here.

“I had been stuffed up for several days,” Petek says. “My eyes were itchy, but it wasn’t really bad enough to go to the doctor.”

She downloaded the eXpress app, used her iPhone’s video capabilities to arrange the virtual visit, and held the phone to her eye, so the provider could make a diagnosis and recommend treatment, all without leaving her desk.

“It showed up enough on the iPhone that she could see what was happening,” Petek says.

She says the Health eXpress provider diagnosed an allergy-related eye irritation.

Because Petek had health coverage through Providence, the provider also had access to some of Petek’s medical records and knew what medications she was taking, Petek says. 

“She sent an eyedrops prescription directly to the pharmacy and within 20 minutes, the pharmacy had texted me and told me the prescription was ready,” Petek says.

Carolyn Rust, a food nutrition employee at Providence Holy Family Hospital, in Spokane, says she recommended the new service to her husband, Gary, as an alternative to a doctor visit.

“The day it was available to us on this side of the state, my husband was having signs of a sinus infection. We got on the phone and computer,” Rust says. “I was able to ask questions about how it worked, and it sounded great.”

She says a Health eXpress provider gathered information online, diagnosed the infection, and forwarded a prescription to a Costco pharmacy.

Rust says her husband’s symptoms subsided within four days.

She estimates that the Health eXpress visit saved more than $100 compared with a visit to her primary care physician.

“Instead of paying $150, we paid $39 and got the same service as if going to the doctor,” she says.

Jennifer Semenza, a Spokane-based marketing and communications specialist at Providence Health Care, says patients can create a Health eXpress account through the healthexpress.com website. For mobile devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, the website has links for downloading Health eXpress apps through the Apple and Google Play app stores.

When the patient signs in, Health eXpress tells which providers are available and how long the wait is.

“When there’s a shortage of primary care physicians, it helps to have this access,” Semenza says, adding, “I can’t say how much I would have used it when I had a high deductible.”

She says she hasn’t heard of any criticism from primary care physicians whose patients have used Health eXpress instead of a live office visit.

“I think physicians now accept that not everyone has to be seen at the office in every case for every condition,” she says.

During a demonstration of Health eXpress online interface, Thanh Nguyen, a Portland-based Health eXpress provider, says she sees 10 to 20 patients from Oregon and Washington daily, including a few from Eastern Washington.

As a nurse practitioner, she has advanced medical training and is licensed to provide certain medical services to patients in Washington and Oregon.

“I can evaluate, treat, and write prescriptions,” she says. 

Nguyen says she’s been part of Health eXpress for three years.

“I believe we are on the leading edge of how we provide care,” she says. “Not just the convenience factor, but for the quality of care. That’s why I’m still here.”

Health eXpress doesn’t replace the role of the primary care provider, Nguyen says.

“We’re here as a supplement or complement,” she says. “Ideally, patients go back to their primary care providers. That’s where they get the best care.”

Health eXpress also serves people who don’t have access to a primary care doctor and otherwise would have to go to urgent care or emergency care when they need treatment.

“You shouldn’t have to go to the emergency room with a cold,” Nguyen says.

Conversely, emergent issues, such as chest pains or life-threatening conditions, wouldn’t be appropriate for Health eXpress, she says.

The Health eXpress website lists nine providers on its staff, including two physicians and seven nurse practitioners.

Wernert says at least two providers are online at any given time, supported by a team of customer care specialists.

“We’re growing,” Wernert says. “We’re recruiting more nurse practitioners to be part of our pool, and we’re finding other ways to flex that capacity.”

Health eXpress providers currently are all based in Oregon.

“We’re looking at augmenting our staff with providers located in Washington,” Wernert says.

Providence initiated the Health eXpress model in Oregon in 2012, starting with a large employer that provided an onsite kiosk with private video conferencing equipment.

Since then, Health eXpress has evolved to include access through mobile applications, which most Health eXpress patients now use, she says.

Health eXpress benefits employers when their employees don’t have to take time off to go to the doctor, Wernert says. Because of its convenience, employees with access to Health eXpress are more likely to seek treatment before an illness or condition becomes more severe, she claims.

“This is the future of convenient care,” Wernert says.