Share this on:Copied!

Convenience and technology go hand-in-hand. Don’t feel like grocery shopping? Order groceries for pick-up or delivery on your smartphone. Need a ride somewhere? Use a ride-sharing service to get where you’re going.

Over the past few years, the medical field has benefited from the rise in convenient technology, too. Video visits with health care providers for non-emergency symptoms are becoming increasingly popular and, if you’ve ever tried one, it’s easy to see why. The benefits of video visits are hard to ignore.

Get Care Where You Are

Having a doctor’s appointment from the comfort of your own home is hard to beat. Using your phone, tablet, or laptop for a virtual visit is much easier than driving to a physical office. A video visit can save you lots of time and the hassle of driving to and from a distant provider’s office.

Make Your Video Visit Even More Convenient

You can streamline your video visit by preparing photos of any areas to address during the appointment, such as swelling, rashes, or other problems. The photos can be submitted through your UPMC patient portal before your appointment to give your doctor time to review them before your video visit.

When signing in for your virtual appointment, you’ll be the only one in the waiting room. A virtual visit means no close contact with other patients and no potential exposure to germs and viruses—which can be especially helpful for immunocompromised and vulnerable patients.

Prescription Renewal

Medication can be prescribed and renewed via video visits. In fact, some pre-existing prescriptions can be renewed within your UPMC patient portal without a video visit.

Scheduling in the Palm of Your Hand

The convenience isn’t limited to the day of your appointment. Many UPMC providers allow you to view their open schedule times within your UPMC patient portal app so that you can choose a date and time that fits your schedule.

Find the Right Provider

Finding the right provider has never been easier, and many providers have availability for video visits. To find the right provider for your needs and schedule, simply search the comprehensive list on the UPMC Find A Doctor tool. You can filter by specialty, patient age group, accepting video visits, languages spoken, and other detailed filters.

While searching for the right provider for your needs, you can also see their next available appointment.

Message Your Doctor

Forget to ask something during your video visit or have a follow-up question? Through your UPMC patient portal, you can send private, secure messages and questions that your doctor can review without scheduling another appointment. Secure messages are convenient for non-emergency situations.

How do I Know if a Video Visit is Right for Me?

Video visits are not always the right choice. Emergency situations should still be treated with urgency, not by waiting for an appointment. Some video visits might also require in-person follow-ups, depending on the situation. You can call your provider’s office, or use the messaging feature on your UPMC patient portal to ask your doctor whether a video visit or in-person visit is right for your situation.