Have you ever been away from home, whether for work or business, and developed a bad sore throat or ear ache? Have your seasonal allergies ever suddenly kicked in and you feel miserable, but when you call your primary care doctor’s office you learn that you can’t get an appointment until next week?  Has your child ever developed an unexplained rash on a holiday, when your house is full of relatives, and you think it’s probably not serious or contagious, but you’re not quite certain?  If you are covered by Middlebury’s medical plan, and find yourself (or a family member!) in such a situation consider trying Cigna’s Telehealth service.  Through Telehealth you can speak with a board certified M.D. by phone or video chat who can diagnosis and treat (including ordering prescriptions) a wide variety of minor illnesses.  Telehealth is quick, convenient and very inexpensive – on our plan the cost is only $8 per “visit” and the deductible does not apply!  It takes only a few minutes to register for the service and once registered the wait time to speak with a doctor is usually about 5 minutes.  Several Middlebury employees have already tried the service and have given it rave reviews.  If you think it might be something you’d be interested in trying, consider signing up now, so that when you are not feeling well you can get connected to a medical doctor – from home, work, or on the road (so long as you are within the US) – within just a couple of minutes.  And if you do try it please consider letting Human Resources know how you liked the Telehealth service – this is a new benefit for us and we’d love feedback from our medical plan participants.

 

–Cheryl Mullins

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