Family Video offering telemedicine consultations, health discounts for customers
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WWMT) — Video rental stores are adapting to the times and while there is only one Blockbuster store left in the United States, Family Video expanded its business model by stepping into the world of medicine.
The sign in front of the Family Video on Gull Road in Kalamazoo advertises $0 co-pay for telemedicine. While customers grab a moviethey can sign up for a consultation with a doctor virtually.
“We were in training for it to be proceeded into the other stores, make it a big thing, like our CBD, and then it’s just become a really big thing since the pandemic and everything,” Family Video Manager Montana Trinh said.
Trinh said the telemedicine program, namedFamilyPerx, was introduced as a trial in late 2019. The stores themselves are a connection to the FamilyPerx service through a partnership with HealthPerx, a medical consultation and discount service.
“They can just call and it’ll list like the doctors, or have a doctor available that they can contact with,” Trinh said. “You see a doctor within like five minutes. It offers like non-emergency things.”
The non-emergency areas covered by the service include minor health problems such as acne, bug bites, allergies, headaches, constipation and diarrhea.
Customers sign up at Family Video and receive a card with a number to call. The service is not an insurance.
“It offers like lab testing, hearing aids, MRI and CT scan orders, affinity travel, vitamins, prescription valet and diabetic supplies,”Trinh said.
The normal plan is $15 a month with a $0 copay. Premium service is $19.95, and includes vision discounts and dental discounts.
Besides possibly saving on in-person doctor visits, telemedicine also keeps people out of hospitals, leaving more room for people who need to be there, like COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Raakesh Bhan, who works at Comprehensive Medical Care in Battle Creek, said he thinks telemedicine is a good option for patients, but not the best option.
“If I am a patient, I would like to go and see my doctor personally, physically, so my doctor can listen to me, listen to my lungs and heart, and look at me and examine me, and tell me what he can do for me,” Bhan said.
He said he sees about one patient a week via telemedicine. He said the rest still come in person.
Family Video on Gull Road closedMarch initial June due to the pandemic and Trinh said there has been a push to bring customers back in.
In the age of streaming, when many rental stores have fallen by the wayside, Family Video has tried to give people more reasons to come in.
Stores also sell CBD oil products.
“It’s nice to be able to be like, 'Oh, come get a movie, stay inside for five days,' but here’s some relaxation, and if you get sick, here’s a doctor for you too,” Trinh said.
The FamilyPerx service is helping people get some access to health care from the safety of their own home, and providing a new stream of revenue to Family Video.
In the wake of recent changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 testing guidelines, Trinh said many have used the service to determine if they needed to be tested for COVID-19. The new guidelines dictate people need to have symptoms to be tested, not just exposure to the virus.
- COVID-19: Find the latest on the pandemic on the coronavirus page
Bhan agrees with the notion that asymptomatic patients don’t need to be tested, as long as they take proper precautions such as social distancing and wearing masks.