To help assess patients with potential COVID-19 symptoms, several South Carolina healthcare providers are offering free access to telehealth services. If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath), telehealth is a great way to be screened by a care provider without having to go to a doctor's office or hospital.
"Telehealth is an extremely logical solution to a public health concern like this," said MUSC infectious disease physician Amanda Parks. "We're talking about a highly communicable disease. It's highly transmissible. And particularly when you have a group of people that are susceptible with a few infected people in an ER, there's going to be a high rate of transmission. The beauty of telehealth, and all of these telehealth platforms, is that we can remove that element of transmissibility through close contact ... by seeing to patients remotely."
Below is a list of telehealth services available to any patient in South Carolina. This list will be updated.
The Medical University of South Carolina is offering free coronavirus screenings through its virtual urgent care platform. You can access this platform anytime from a smartphone or computer. Use the promo code COVID19 for a free visit.
Prisma Health is offering free virtual visits as well with the promo code COVID19. It can be accessed from any smartphone or computer. Online visits can be completed anytime, but responses are provided daily between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
McLeod Health has made its virtual screenings free, too. Available on a computer through this website, or on the McLeod TeleHealth app on your smartphone. The promo code is COVID19.
Roper St. Francis Healthcare is offering free virtual care visits as well, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Use the promo code COVID19 for a free visit.