MDLIVE a leading telehealth innovator has been tapped by Cigna, global health insurer with 78 million customer relationships, to provide round the clock healthcare access to its customers. Employers with Cigna’s self-insured health plans will have 24/7 online access to MDLIVE’s network of 2,300 board-certified internal medicine, family practice and pediatric physicians. Employees can see a doctor live over video consultations powered by VSee on an average of just 11 minutes. Here is a video demo of how an MDLIVE-VSee telehealth video chat consultation would work.

As Randy Parker, MDLIVE president and CEO notes in this mHIMSS article, the Cigna partnership closes the loop for millions of employees around the country who need immediate access to healthcare issues — colds, flu, rashes, sinus issues, headaches, etc. — that don’t need to be delivered in a doctor’s office, emergency room or urgent care clinic.

To complete a visit, electronic records of the MDLIVE telehealth visit are sent directly to the patient’s Cigna primary care physician in case follow-up care is needed.

Employees will also continue to have web access to their Cigna primary care doctors via McKesson’s RelayHealth platform, which has been in use since 2007. MDLIVE will be integrated directly into the MyCigna.com consumer platform, as well as be featured in Cigna’s new mobile app, which helps members locate and select physicians and urgent care centers.

What the MDLIVE partnership offers is another layer of healthcare accessibility through video consultations for Cigna customers.

Spokesperson Jackie Aube adds in a press release, “MDLIVE’s telehealth services enable our increasingly mobile and time-constrained customers to schedule a virtual consult with a board-certified physician and resolve a non-emergency medical issue in less than one hour. It’s a cost-effective and convenient alternative to an office visit with your primary care physician.”