Doctor on Demand telehealth service review

Doctor on Demand is headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Minneapolis and Washington, DC. It was founded by Jay McGraw, and Adam Jackson, along with Dr Phil McGraw, the father of Jay back in 2013. Over a million have downloaded its app, and they are served by over a thousand boarded physicians on their panel. This exponential growth has attracted venture capital funding from the likes of Goldman Sachs, and Princeville Global.

• You can learn more about Doctor on Demand here

Features

Doctor on Demand is available 24/7 for virtual visits with US based, board certified physicians and licensed psychologists.

While some telehealth providers focus on only certain conditions, Doctor on Demand has a fairly wide scope of practice. This includes conditions that are traditionally seen in urgent care centers such as fever, along with more chronic conditions including asthma. Mental health issues are also treated, such as anxiety and depression.

Doctor on Demand also focuses on preventative care, including wellness visits. After all, it is often easier to prevent a problem than treat it, and this can cover smoking cessation, emotional health, and age-appropriate screening recommendations. 

Medication management is another area of interest for this company. This can include medication dosage changes, medication list reviews to check for interactions, refills, and safe use of generic prescriptions. It is also stated that its doctors will not prescribe controlled substances through the service, including codeine, oxycontin and the like. Diet is another crucial area for patients, and Doctor on Demand has services that encompass obesity, weight management and vitamin deficiencies.

It is also appreciated that a fairly comprehensive list of what is not treated by this telehealth service is also provided- upfront. This includes such obvious severe medical conditions that most certainly need a direct hands on assessment by a medical provider, such as orthopedic fractures, lacerations, traumatic brain injuries, and chest pain. This also includes the quite common pediatric ear infections, which deserve an otoscopic exam and direct assessment of the child for an accurate diagnosis.

Drawbacks

Doctor on Demand has mobile apps for both the Android and Apple platforms. Additionally, both are well regarded, and achieve an identical score of 4.9 out of 5 stars.

This service also appears to be viewed positively on Facebook as well, with over 90k likes and followers. However, there are some reports from folks that were annoyed after paying for a visit, and then just being told to see their local physician. Another user complained that they were not able to receive support for a complaint after the visit for over 24 hours. In both cases though, we would point out that Doctor on Demand was responsive to social media posts, and addressed the posted issues.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) also tracks this company. Of note, Doctor on Demand is not accredited by the BBB, and it has 44 complaints. In one case, the user was upset as their mental health counselor canceled their appointment on short notice. Unfortunately, there is a 24 hour cancellation policy in place, which got enforced, and even though the appointment was canceled by the provider, the patient still had the charge for the visit pulled from their HSA account. They were also frustrated with the customer service after, with a lack of ability to escalate, and to receive a refund. There are also other reports that indicate that they were not able to escalate, when dissatisfied with customer service to a supervisor, further frustrating users.

Pricing

Pricing for Doctor on Demand endeavors to be simple and transparent. Thankfully, that is true, with patient visits that get charged based on their insurance status, and on the service.

There is a full pay price, based on no level of benefits. This visit gets priced at a $75 (£59) ‘Flat rate’ for a medical visit, $129 (£102) for therapy, and $299 (£236) for psychiatry.

This can become more affordable as multiple employers provide a discount for Doctor on Demand to its employees. This includes Wal-Mart, American Airlines and Comcast.

Finally, there are multiple insurance plans that provide an in network benefit, using Doctor on Demand as a preferred provider. This includes several popular insurers such as Aetna, Cigna and Humana among others. Finally, it is also a covered Medicare Part B benefit.

Support

There is support offered for Doctor on Demand through a variety of methods. It starts with answers to FAQ’s, for popular topics such as “How do I transfer my prescription to a different pharmacy?,” and “Can I share my visit notes with my PCP?”

The next option is an online portal. This starts with designating a category, entering your email and name, and then finally entering your question, which can be up to 2,000 characters.

For those that prefer more direct contact, there is also an 800 phone number provided.

While there are email addresses provided for contact for media, partnership or sales inquiries, unfortunately none is provided for support. Furthermore, there is no option for a chat session, nor white papers, online videos or an online forum.

Final verdict

Doctor on Demand provides a powerful telehealth service through their popular, and well rated mobile apps. The pros include the affordable cost and coverage through popular providers, 24/7 availability, the range of services provided that includes wellness visits, and the choice of support options. The cons of the service include the issues with customer service such as escalating a complaint, and the lack of options for chat or email to interact to resolve issues. 

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