During my first few weeks at UW Medicine, I visited many groups around the system to find out what people felt was going well and what they thought might be challenges or obstacles to our success.
One thing I heard clearly was a concern about access – the ability to get an appointment and see a provider in our system in a timely and convenient way. Many employees had personally experienced difficulty getting access to care for themselves or their families and were frustrated.
Our workforce has always been UW Medicine’s greatest asset, and part of being the employer of choice is being able to offer our own people prompt, quality healthcare. Our leadership team takes that very seriously and will be making access a primary focus as we move into this fiscal year and beyond.
I want to share several resources available to you today as UW Medicine employees to help you and your families gain better access to our great facilities and providers. We will also be announcing soon our plans to improve access for all patients so that they can get the right care with the right provider at the right time and location.
Dedicated phone number
The UW Medicine Contact Center has established a phone number just for employees and their families: 206.520.5050. Contact Center representatives prioritize calls to this number, meaning a shorter wait time for you.
Priority appointment scheduling
Another benefit of the dedicated phone number is that employees and their families will now receive priority access to available appointments. And if you are still not satisfied with your appointment options, the Contact Center will escalate your call to a scheduling liaison, who will work with you to identify a solution.
Fast Pass
If you use eCare, you can take advantage of the Fast Pass option. The Contact Center will add you to a waiting list, and you will be alerted through your eCare account if an appointment opens up sooner than your scheduled time.
Online scheduling
I’ve heard from employees and patients alike that they want the ease and convenience of being able to schedule appointments online. I’m excited to say that now you can. We have two new online options: open scheduling for new patients and direct scheduling for current patients. While this doesn’t yet include all providers and all specialties, we are working to add more each month.
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- Open scheduling for new patientsOnline “open scheduling” is designed for new patients looking for a primary care provider, including family medicine, gynecology, internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics and women’s health. Visit uwmedicine.org and click on “Make an Appointment” for a list of open appointments with providers who are taking new patients. You’ll also find a link on that page for Valley Medical Center appointments.
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- Direct scheduling for current patientsIf you’re a returning patient you can make online appointments with your current providers through eCare. Just log in to you eCare account and choose “schedule an appointment” under “Quick Links.”
Virtual Clinic
If you don’t want to wait for an appointment, you can also use the UW Medicine Virtual Clinic for immediate primary or urgent care, 24/7. And if you have UMP Plus as your health plan, it’s free.
We’re committed to continuing to find solutions to help make it easier for you to use UW Medicine as your healthcare provider. As always, we welcome your feedback, ideas and questions. Please direct them to Melissa Vasiliades, administrator for ambulatory access with the UW Medicine Contact Center, at mjv1@uw.edu or 206.520.5080.
Thank you for all you do for UW Medicine every day.
Lisa Brandenburg
Chief Health System Officer
UW Medicine
