The Hawai’i Medical Service Association (HMSA) was awarded the Pandemic Acceleration and Activation Award from national telehealth leader Amwell®. This award recognizes organizations for their agile and swift virtual responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. HMSA was recognized for its ability to rapidly scale its virtual care platform, HMSA’s Online Care®, to meet unprecedented levels of demand and deliver care safely to members during the pandemic.
“HMSA has been providing online care to our members for more than a decade,” said HMSA President and Chief Executive Officer Mark M. Mugiishi, M.D., F.A.C.S. “This award highlights HMSA’s response to COVID-19, where we saw a 271% increase in virtual visits from March to May and we cut the average wait time for patients by more than half.”
Due to an increase in member demand for Online Care, HMSA quickly trained and onboarded providers, which increased medical and behavioral health specialists by an additional 500 providers. HMSA also mobilized its own Online Care customer service team to better support providers and patients, which included updating hmsa.com with information about telehealth and using email and other channels to educate members about their benefits.
HMSA’s expanded coverage for telehealth services also includes waiving copayments for all telehealth services for fully insured commercial plan, Medicare, and Medicaid members through the end of the year.
For more information on HMSA’s Online Care, visit https://hmsa.com/well-being/online-care/.
About HMSA
Caring for the people of Hawaii is our promise and our privilege. Working together with employers, partners, and physicians and other health care providers, we promote well-being; develop reliable, affordable health plans; and support members with clear, thoughtful guidance.
HMSA is the most experienced health plan in the state, covering more than half of Hawaii’s population. As a recognized leader, we embrace our responsibility to strengthen the health and well-being of our community.
Headquartered on Oahu with centers and offices statewide to serve our members, HMSA is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
Amwell® is an independent company providing hosting and software services for HMSA’s Online Care platform on behalf of HMSA.
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