NYC Health + Hospitals is rolling out a new virtual care program for non-life threatening health issues, according to a Sept. 22 news release.
The new program, dubbed ExpressCare, builds on the New York City-based health system's recent expansion of telemedicine services across the state. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, NYC Health + Hospitals has completed more than 600,000 telemedicine visits.
With ExpressCare, patients can connect with a NYC Health + Hospitals emergency medicine provider for a video and/or audio evaluation. Visits are expected to last about 10 minutes and are intended for non-emergency symptoms and health issues such as flu, cold, COVID-19, sinus infections and allergies. The service also offers the availability of on-screen interpreters for more than 200 languages.
"Telemedicine is helping patients access critical services safely during the pandemic,” said Richard Gottfried, the health system's assembly health committee chair. "This important expansion of the ExpressCare program will connect more patients with timely care, and I commend NYC Health + Hospitals, especially for providing comprehensive language access including American Sign Language so that all New Yorkers can benefit from the program."
NYC Health + Hospitals serves more than 1 million patients annually across more than 70 patient care locations across New York City.