Like many other businesses, physician practices and medical groups have suffered significant financial losses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

To combat the high decline in patient volume and recoup lost revenue, many health care providers, such as Virtual Primary Doctor, have strategically moved toward telemedicine, which is the use of technology that enables remote healthcare.

During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine has emerged as one of the most mainstream healthcare solutions.

“It is no doubt that COVID-19 has driven a sharp increase in utilization of telemedicine,” say Dr. David Howard, CEO of Virtual Primary Doctor.

Dr. Howard was originally born in Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of eighteen. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University and then pursued his M.D. and Ph.D. in Epidemiology through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed an internship at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital followed by a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Dr. Howard was voted as being among the top 10% of scientific reviewers for Obstetrics and Gynecology, the highest-ranked journal in the field in the United States. He is currently a Board Certified Obstetrics/Gynecology Specialist practicing in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is affiliated with several different hospitals in the area. Dr. David Howard is highly committed to providing patients with the most effective primary care and, since patients around the country have requested telemedicine services, he has started providing them.

“Basically, it makes it possible for physicians to treat patients from their home, by using a computer or smartphone,” says Dr. Howard.

Traditionally, seeing a doctor involves finding a doctor, making an appointment (which, most of the time, you have to schedule several weeks out), driving to the doctor’s office, waiting in the waiting room, waiting in the exam room, finally seeing the doctor, having a short 15-minute visit, leaving the doctor’s office, and driving home.

However, what happens if you forgot to ask something during your visit? Or if something happens a few days later?

“Our service is completely online, which means that you get comprehensive, personalized care from the comfort of your home, on any device,” says Dr. Howard.

Not only does Dr. Howard provide services for his current patients, he also provides telemedicine services at a reduced price for small businesses.

According to Dr. Howard, the main reason health insurance is not more commonly offered by small businesses is the cost.

A small business, on average, can expect to pay $5,728 in premiums per year for a single coverage health care plan, which is a 3% increase in cost from 2017 to 2018.

For a family plan with multiple members, a small business can expect to pay $14,069 per year, a 5% increase from 2017-2018.

This trending rise in cost threatens small businesses’ abilities to be able to offer health insurance as an employment benefit.

In a 2017 study by eHealth, 62% of small business owners said that they could not survive a 15% increase in premium costs and that such an increase would make offering health insurance completely unaffordable.

Taken further, these increasing costs also have the potential to prevent small businesses from growing.

In the same study mentioned above, 30% of small business owners have delayed hiring additional employees because of health insurance costs.

Overall, health insurance costs add financial burden on small business owners because they must balance the cost of growing their businesses with taking care of their employees.

One solution for small business health care is Virtual Primary Doctor.

“Through our Small Business Plan, we offer unlimited video visits monthly for up to 25 employees. The monthly price for the Small Business Plan is $499 a month, which translates to only $20 a month per employee. All visits are done through telemedicine with a licensed medical doctor, so a patient never needs to leave their home to see a doctor who can order labs, write prescriptions, or offer referrals,” says Dr. Howard.

For further information about Dr. Howard and Virtual Primary Doctor telemedicine, visit www.virtualprimarydoctor.com.