First Stop Health Celebrates 1 Year of Virtual Primary Care

Chicago, August 2, 2023 – First Stop Health (FSH), a leading virtual care company for primary, urgent and mental health care needs, is proud to celebrate one year of providing exceptional Virtual Primary Care to members. Virtual Primary Care connects patients to primary care doctors that are part of the FSH virtual practice, who can provide care for preventive, chronic and mental health concerns. Members also have access to FSH’s Virtual Urgent Care (Telemedicine) through Virtual Primary Care. 

“The potential impact of Primary Care has long been realized, but patients have to actually use the service for their lives to be transformed,” said Teira Gunlock, CEO of FSH “We built primary care in response to patient need, but just as importantly, we designed this service with high engagement and user experience as the priorities.” 

FSH Virtual Primary Care connects members to doctors in less than 5 days (on average and based on first-preferred appointment), with many appointments available next day. Virtual Primary Care members can schedule virtual visits via app, website or phone. FSH doctors are available to support patients by coordinating care for labs, imaging and procedure orders, managing medications, supporting disease management, referring patients to in-network specialists and providing care follow-up. Plus, virtual visits with FSH doctors are free to patients and their dependents. As a standalone solution, Virtual Primary Care visits do not incur medical claims – saving money for employers and their employees. 

This past year, FSH Virtual Primary Care averaged 96% perfect 5-star ratings. Top conditions treated included anxiety, depression, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Many members also used FSH Virtual Primary Care to complete their annual wellness exams. 50% of Virtual Primary Care patients were new to primary care, signaling that FSH is changing how patients think about engaging with their health. When asked to share what motivated them to use FSH Virtual Primary Care, 42% of members shared it was due to convenience, 23% said employer incentive/prompting and 12% were looking for support for a health issue. 94% of Virtual Primary Care users plan to use it again and 96% would recommend FSH to a friend or colleague. 

Members also revealed that compared to in-person care, Virtual Primary Care was easier, quicker and almost the same as or better than in-person experiences. A recent study found that virtual care performed comparably or better than in-person care in 82% of the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measures studied. Patients who used virtual care experienced better chronic disease management and prevention and they were also more likely to receive a mental health screening. This evidence highlights a positive association of primary care delivered in a virtual setting and supports the importance of a strong primary care provider and patient relationship.  

FSH recently enhanced its Virtual Primary Care steerage capabilities through its partnership with a premier transparency partner. To improve member care coordination, the FSH Care Team can now leverage 13 billion points of claims data for better in-network referrals based on cost and quality. For each provider recommendation delivered through FSH Virtual Primary Care, an average of $441 is saved in claims-based costs and cases are 26% less costly.   

About First Stop Health 

First Stop Health (FSH) provides care that people love® with various digital healthcare services. Patients can access virtual care 24/7 via app, website or phone. We help them save time and money with safe, convenient, high-quality virtual care solutions – Primary Care, Urgent Care & Mental Health. FSH was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2022 and 2023, and ranked one of the fastest-growing private companies for the past 5 years by Inc. 5000. In 2023, FSH was also recognized in Crain’s Chicago Business Fast 50 as one of the Chicago-areas' fastest growing companies and as a 2023 Well-Being Trailblazer presented by Archetype and WELCOA. 

Media Contact 

Emily Kunisch | Senior Manager, Marketing | First Stop Health 

888-691-7867 | ekunisch@fshealth.com