Every experienced traveler knows nothing can ruin a trip or conference as fast as being sick and having to tough it out until you return home and visit your doctor. But it’s a dilemma Memorial Healthcare System and Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort in South Florida are partnering to help fix.
Thanks to MemorialDOCNow, an app available through the Apple and Google stores, anyone can launch a private video chat with a physician specifically trained in telehealth, 24 hours a day. While not equipped to handle emergencies, the doctors ask questions about symptoms and medical history, allowing them to diagnosis ailments from allergies to strep throat and pinkeye. Then they can send electronic prescriptions to a pharmacy nearby.
Every physician is affiliated either with the Memorial Healthcare System, the company’s partner American Well Online Care Group or Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. And to top it off, all communication over your video chat is secure. Originally developed and offered as an option for those who simply couldn’t work an in-person doctor’s visit into their schedule, MemorialDOCNow is looking to find a niche with travelers.
Put simply, Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort General Manager Demise Haddad explains, “This will make the experience a little better when the unexpected happens.” And if it means getting medical help without ever leaving your hotel room, it’s a hard prospect to argue with.
For a cost of $59 per call and an average wait time of less than 10 minutes, the resort is hoping the partnership will give attendees a bit more peace-of-mind. That way, whether onsite, with the Newport’s 18,000 sq. ft. of event space, or while enjoying the beaches, nightlife and everything else the Miami area has to offer, it’s one less thing to worry about.
As one of Florida’s major healthcare systems, Memorial Healthcare System runs hospitals throughout the state; its largest is Memorial Regional Hospital, just north of where Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort is nestled in the Sunny Isles Beach area on South Florida’s Atlantic coastline. Susanne Hurowitz, who is owner of the 339-room resort and a sitting board member of the healthcare system, calls the partnership “a natural collaboration” to help guests and event attendees receive care and enjoy their stays at the same time.
