Electronic consultations for CIGNA patients

CIGNA is encouraging its 550,000 health care professionals to register for the Web visit service through RelayHealth. About 10,000 doctors had signed up through early 2008. CIGNA is promoting the service heavily, picking up the first three months of the service’s costs for doctors.

CIGNA pays physicians $25 for a Web visit, compared with $75 or more for an office visit. If members are responsible for co-pays for e-visits, which are typically about the same as copays for office visits, the RelayHealth service can either collect the member co-pay via credit card on behalf of the physician or generate a bill to the patient.

CIGNA expanded its virtual house call benefits after initially offering the service to two large customers in 2006. In 2008 year, it broadened the benefit to all members in Arizona, California, Florida, and New York, before opening it up to all providers and to three-quarters of CIGNA members employed by businesses that self-insure.

Currently, 170,000 CIGNA members can access their doctors via e-mail. So far, most of the activity is centered on administrative uses—appointment scheduling and referrals, for example.

See: Take Two and E-mail Me at Your Convenience