Maple Grove Clinic Sees Spike in Virtual Visits

Oakdale ObGyn Says Telemedicine Here to Stay

Oakdale ObGyn in Maple Grove, like many clinics across the country, was already using some form of telemedicine before the COVID-19 pandemic. About 10 appointments per month were telemedicine. Now that number has grown substantially.

“We’re now seeing around 700 telemedicine patients a month, and have been able to ramp up our ability to see patients virtually,” said Dr. Matthew Palmer with Oakdale ObGyn.

Oakdale ObGyn sees increase in virtual visits.

Dr. Palmer says the clinic uses a web-based platform called WELL Health to communicate with patients about everything from medical records to appointment reminders.

“We can use it in a variety of ways. We can use it to send individual messages to patients, we can also send group messages out,” explained Dr. Palmer.

The physician says the technology has many advantages, including keeping patients safe from exposure to the novel coronavirus.

“You really can’t over-communicate in a time when people have a lot of anxiety about even going out in public,” said Dr. Palmer.

Oakdale ObGyn plans to continue virtual visits after COVID-19 pandemic is over

He says virtual visits are not ideal for everyone, like high-risk patients.

“We’re very selective about who we and careful about which patients we use this type of platform for,” he explained.

Oakdale ObGyn says the virtual visits have been so successful that the clinic plans to keep the program long after COVID-19 is gone.

Maple Grove