HAGERSTOWN – Have you or your child found yourselves with a sniffle, sore throat or any other everyday ailment, but the thought of even leaving the couch to make it to the doctor or urgent care seems out of the question?
Meritus Health has a virtual solution to help you: MeritusNow.
“We want to try to improve the health of the community with accessible quality care,” said Jennifer Mueller, LPN, CPPM, who is in charge of MeritusNow operations. “It’s just like urgent care, except virtual.”
The idea grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic and launched in June 2022. The service is for patients 5 years old and older. The cadre of providers on the other end of the computer monitor sees many patients from Washington County and other parts of Maryland, as well as those from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The service is available seven days a week, with appointments available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week and in the evening on weekends. There’s one provider available during the day and three who see patients in the evenings.
The system uses any computer or smartphone with a camera. Mueller or another person will help walk through the login process anyone who needs assistance. Patients simply visit www.meritushealth.com and scroll down the screen until they see “Virtual Visit” and click the “Schedule Now” button. It can also be accessed through MyChart, but a patient doesn’t need to have a MyChart login to use MeritusNow.
From there, the patient will be asked a series of questions, including whom the appointment is for and the reason for the appointment.
Mueller or another healthcare provider will review those reasons to help determine what the patient might need. Typical patients are suffering from colds, COVID, flu, urinary tract infections, and other non-chronic maladies.
The service is not for treatment of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, nor is it for those suffering a potentially life-threatening emergency.
“I have to do triage,” Mueller said. “If I see that you’re not appropriate for telemedicine, I will send you to your primary care provider, urgent care or emergency room for an in-person evaluation.”
The provider will speak with the patient directly and assess symptoms. They can write prescriptions or order diagnostic testing.
“There are a lot of things a provider can do without having ‘hands-on,’” Mueller said. “If we know the person’s symptoms — a fever, nausea, sore throat — it can lead to a strep throat diagnosis. We can ask if the person has had someone look at their throat. We can even ask them to open their mouth and look at the camera.
“If we think it’s strep, we can send them out for testing.”
The service has helped nearly 10,000 patients since it started, though appointments were heaviest this past winter during cold and flu season, Mueller said.
“It was an alternative to urgent care and the emergency room,” she said.
Giving patients access is one of the reasons Mueller and others helped develop the service three years ago.
“It was the ability to reach patients that might not be able to get in to primary care, or patients in remote areas,” she said. “I wanted to improve that equity, to give everyone access to care.” To learn more about Meritus virtual care, visit https://now.meritushealth.com.
