App connects area patients with doctors via telemedicine

Patients with noncritical ailments have another way of getting a prescription without having to go into a doctor’s office.

Honolulu physicians Neel Chauhan and Cedric Strong this month started WePrescribe through a mobile app that connects Hawaii residents and visitors with local doctors via telemedicine — a video call between a patient and provider — for quick and easy access to prescription medicines.

For $49.99, patients can get evaluated virtually via the Spruce app, and doctors can prescribe medicines if necessary that may either be picked up at a pharmacy or home-delivered free in a few days. Patients either pay out of pocket or a normal copay with health insurance.

The service is meant to improve access to care in the community, which is facing a severe shortage of physicians, said Chauhan, a family medicine and urgent care doctor.

“We created WePrescribe because we know time is precious,” he said. “Instead of waiting days or weeks for an appointment and then taking time off from work or away from family for a doctor’s visit, patients can now immediately and safely address their health concerns using their smart device.”

Safety is the priority, so doctors will not treat severe medical conditions or prescribe controlled substances or opioids, he said. Patients also must physically be in Hawaii. The company has about a dozen local family medicine doctors and internists, as well as a couple of nurse practitioners authorized to prescribe new medications or refills for routine conditions including common colds and flu, as well as seasonal allergies, infections and motion sickness. The providers use an e-prescribing database to flag any interactions between medications, Chauhan said, adding that patients should notify their primary care doctors when obtaining medicines via telemedicine. Providers also issues sick notes if needed.

“We’re not replacing someone’s PCP (primary care physician). We’re not replacing the urgent care centers. We want to keep things safe. We have certain protocols in place so that we won’t be issuing ongoing medications every single month,” he said.

Ala Moana resident Sophia Parizes, 29, used the service for the first time Aug. 15 to get a refill on her motion sickness medication before a last-minute work trip to Europe. She found the website online while searching the internet after hours when her doctor’s office already was closed.

After completing a survey that asked for basic information including medical history, she was able to schedule a remote consultation at her convenience.

“I could choose the days and time that I wanted to speak with a physician, which was awesome. If you go to normal doctor, you have to wait in the waiting room for over an hour, then you meet with them for 10 minutes and you leave,” she said. “So this was really cool that I could go on with my life and get what I needed in less than 15 minutes.”

WEPRESCRIBE CARE

The current list of available WePrescribe prescriptions:

Erectile dysfunction

Urinary tract infection

Birth control

Cold, cough and flu

Cold sores

Genital herpes

Hair loss

Smoking cessation

Headaches

Morning-after pill

Diarrhea

Heartburn and indigestion

Constipation

Pinkeye

Sinus infection

Sore throat

Seasonal allergies

Athlete’s foot/ ringworm

Dandruff

Motion sickness