TELEHEALTH VISITS
Valley Medical Group offers virtual or telehealth visits for your convenience. These visits are designed for non-emergency health concerns. You will be able to see your provider via a secure video connection through our electronic health record. Although some insurers may pay for audio only telehealth visits, we discourage phone visits since they are often less useful and may not be covered by your insurance.
Certain kinds of concerns are ideal for telehealth. These include follow-up of chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol, or depression and anxiety. If you condition needs lab or vital sign monitoring, having this data ready will make the visit more effective. Discussion of test results from a prior in-person visit is another good use of telehealth, though if you are feeling worse or your symptoms have changed, an in person visit may be required.
Other visits are not suitable for telehealth. These include when a symptom might be due to a serious problem. Chest pain, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, fever, bleeding, or traumatic injuries usually require in person visits. If you are unsure, our triage nurses can help you decide what type of visit best meets your needs.
If you choose to use telehealth for a skin problem, please take at least 3 photos from different angles and magnifications and send them to the portal before your visit. The video connection is not usually clear enough to diagnose most skin problems.
Our nurses or your provider may recommend an in person visit at any time if we are not able to adequately diagnose or treat you by telehealth, or if you have had a telehealth visit but are not getting better. Additional costs may result if an in-person visit is necessary.
Telehealth visits are currently limited to patients located in the state of Massachusetts at the time of your telehealth visit. If you are currently outside of Massachusetts, we are unfortunately not able to see you. For an urgent problem, you should seek care at a Urgent Care or Emergency Room near you.
Your privacy rights are the same whether you get care in person or by telehealth. While most insurers do permit Telehealth visits, it is recommended that you call the member services department of your health insurance plan for specifics regarding your coverage before the visit.
To schedule an appointment at Valley Medical Group, simply call the main telephone number or the direct telephone number for the location and department you want to visit. For non-urgent concerns, you may also request an appointment through the portal. Please allow 24 hours for us to respond to your request. At this time, we do not offer the ability to directly schedule appointments on our Patient Portal.