Virtual health is the umbrella term for any healthcare service delivered without an in-person encounter: video visits, asynchronous messaging, remote patient monitoring, and health apps all fall under it. What virtual health hasn't solved, even after a decade of employer investment, is resolution. The adoption curve tells that story on its own: fewer than half of large employers offered telehealth in 2014; today, coverage is nearly universal. Yet even after that decade of investment, telehealth still accounts for only 4% to 6% of U.S. outpatient visits. Utilization never caught up to availability, because a video visit can triage a complaint and offer clinical advice, but it cannot capture a vital sign, listen to a heart or lung sound, or examine a physical symptom directly.
The OnMed CareStation® deliberately sits at the intersection of virtual and physical care, combining the reach of a virtual-style encounter with the integrated diagnostic tools a purely virtual visit lacks. A patient connects to a licensed clinician on a life-size display, but integrated diagnostic instruments let that clinician complete a genuine physical assessment inside the same encounter. That's why 86% of CareStation visits resolve on-site instead of generating the second appointment a purely virtual visit frequently requires.
Hybrid healthcare combines physical environments, real-time clinician interaction, and integrated diagnostic tools into a single, coordinated healthcare experience. Rather than directing patients through a series of disconnected touchpoints—a virtual visit that leads to an in-person referral that leads to a specialist—hybrid care is designed to resolve conditions in one place, in one encounter. It is gaining traction because the existing model does not scale. With an AAMC-projected physician shortage of between 13,500 and 86,000 by 2036, average wait times running 31 to 90 days, and 80% of counties functioning as healthcare deserts, organizations are no longer evaluating care delivery on access alone. Organizations are exploring hybrid care models to expand healthcare access, improve convenience, support preventive care, address provider shortages, and create more efficient pathways to care. Hybrid models combine the convenience of virtual care with advanced clinical capabilities that help clinicians make informed treatment decisions.
Traditional telehealth, with adoption still at only 4-6% of outpatient visits, cannot capture vitals, perform examinations, or deliver the diagnostic confidence that most clinical decisions require. The OnMed CareStation® combines medical-grade diagnostic instruments with a 55-inch life-size display connecting patients to licensed clinicians in real time. 86% of patients are fully treated inside the CareStation without redirection to a specialist, urgent care, or emergency department. The CareStation also operates on dual broadband and satellite, reaching communities that traditional telehealth cannot serve. Walk-in clinics and telehealth often end in a referral or a second visit, and a telehealth kiosk or virtual health benefit connects a patient to a clinician without integrated diagnostic tools; the CareStation resolves the encounter in one visit. Hybrid care is also not the same as telehealth: it adds in-person assessment capabilities and integrated diagnostic tools to virtual clinical expertise.
Every term here points to the same gap in healthcare access. See how the CareStation closes it.
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