Essentia Health Quickly Transitions 70 Percent of Care to Telehealth During COVID-19 Pandemic

Foresight and preparation prove vital to rapidly increasing virtual health care

When social distancing guidelines were first put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, doctors worried about delays or even declines in regular care services that patients still needed to stay healthy.

“We recognized in the middle of March that face-to-face visits were going to be an incredible challenge,” said Dr. David Herman, CEO at Essentia Health. “Fortunately, we invested in laying the groundwork for virtual care more than a year earlier.”

Before 2020, the vast majority of health care providers and patients were not frequently using telehealth. Essentia had already started a gradual roll out of its new virtual visit capabilities in order to offer a more convenient alternative to rural communities. The COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the expansion of telehealth efforts in order to have it become the new norm for most patients.

“We knew we had to step in and fill a void that was quickly created by our patients not being able to come to see us,” said Dr. Herman. “We literally went from zero virtual visits to about 3,000 virtual visits per day in less than three weeks. We have ramped up more quickly and have done more volume than just about anyone in the country.”

Essentia launched its new virtual visit capabilities on March 18. This new approach to care was welcomed among the more than 1,200 primary care providers, as well as physicians and advanced care providers within as many as 60 specialties, that are now caring for patients virtually.

Patients also say they appreciate this new way of seeing their doctor. In fact, more than 90 percent said they received the care they needed and would consider virtual visits in the future too. Nearly 100 percent of patients said they had a great experience seeing their provider via telehealth.

By the end of April 2020, Essentia had conducted around 40,000 virtual visits using interactive videoconferencing. During the same time period, just as many visits were conducted with patients using the telephone.

“What I find very exciting is that our providers are finding better ways to care for their patients,” said Dr. Herman.

Essentia provides health care services to more than half a million patients each year through its 13 hospitals, 69 clinics and six long-term-care facilities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. To learn more about how Essentia Health is working to keep patients safe and healthy during this global health crisis, please visit www.essentiahealth.org/covid-19.