How Care Works
Primary care that continues beyond the visit.
VirtualMD is more than a video appointment. It is ongoing, physician-led primary care delivered virtually across Washington State — with the testing, monitoring, treatment, prevention, and follow-up needed to make your care work.
- Connect
- Evaluate
- Order
- Complete
- Review
- Act
- Continue
The seven steps of your care
Connect
Start With Your Physician
Your care begins with a secure connection to VirtualMD. Depending on your needs and membership, this may include secure messaging, phone communication, or a virtual visit with Dr. Patel.
You don’t need to figure out the entire healthcare system before reaching out.
You tell us what is going on. We determine the appropriate next step.
Evaluate
Understand the Whole Picture
Your care isn’t based on a single symptom or a five-minute interaction. Dr. Patel considers your:
- Current concerns
- Medical history
- Medications and supplements
- Previous laboratory and imaging results
- Lifestyle and health factors
- Preventive-care needs
- Personal health goals
The goal is to understand you — not just the problem that brought you in.
Order
Get the Testing You Actually Need
When diagnostic testing is clinically appropriate, Dr. Patel orders what is needed to evaluate your health. This may include:
- Laboratory testing — blood, urine, or other appropriate laboratory studies.
- Diagnostic imaging — X-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI, or other imaging when clinically indicated.
- Home testing & monitoring — appropriate home-based diagnostic or monitoring tools.
- Specialty evaluation — referral to an in-person specialist when your condition requires expertise or services outside the scope of virtual primary care.
Testing is coordinated with appropriate facilities based on your location and clinical needs.
Complete
Take Care of the Next Step Locally
Being a virtual patient doesn’t mean everything has to happen through a screen. You may complete your care through:
- Local laboratory
- Imaging center
- Pharmacy
- Home monitoring
- Specialist
- In-person evaluation
VirtualMD coordinates these pieces so they remain connected to your overall care. Virtual when it makes sense. Local when necessary.
Review
Your Results Come Back to Your Physician
Your laboratory results, imaging reports, and other clinical information return to your medical record for physician review.
Dr. Patel doesn’t simply look at one abnormal number in isolation. He considers your results alongside your:
- Symptoms
- Medical history
- Medications
- Previous results
- Health trends
- Overall clinical picture
Information becomes useful when a physician puts it into context.
Act
Turn Information Into a Plan
Once your health picture is clear, Dr. Patel works with you on the appropriate next step. Your plan may include:
- Starting or adjusting medication
- Lifestyle or nutrition recommendations
- Preventive care
- Additional testing
- Ongoing monitoring
- Treatment adjustments
- Specialist referral
- In-person evaluation when necessary
No one-size-fits-all protocol. Your care plan is built around your health, your goals, and your clinical needs.
Continue
Your Care Doesn’t End When the Visit Does
This is the difference between a virtual visit and an ongoing primary-care relationship. Your care continues through:
- Follow-up visits
- Secure communication
- Medication monitoring
- Laboratory monitoring
- Chronic-condition management
- Preventive care
- Remote health tracking
- Care coordination
Monitor → Review → Adjust → Continue. As your health changes, your care changes with it.
What Happens Beyond the Screen?
The virtual visit is only one part of your care.
A complete primary-care relationship requires more than talking to a physician.
Laboratory Testing
When appropriate, Dr. Patel can electronically order laboratory testing through available diagnostic networks near you, such as Quest Diagnostics or Labcorp. You complete the testing locally, and the results return for physician review.
Diagnostic Imaging
When imaging is clinically necessary, appropriate local imaging services can be coordinated based on your location and needs.
Medications
When a prescription is clinically appropriate, Dr. Patel sends it to your selected pharmacy or appropriate medication-fulfillment service.
Results
Laboratory and diagnostic results are incorporated into your medical record so they can be reviewed as part of your broader health picture.
Physician Review
Dr. Patel reviews the information and determines whether your current plan should continue, change, or require additional evaluation.
Follow-Up
Your care doesn’t stop when a result comes back. If something needs attention, your plan can be adjusted and followed over time.
Your Care, Connected
One physician. One ongoing relationship.
Your health shouldn’t exist as disconnected pieces across different offices, portals, and appointments. VirtualMD is designed to keep your primary-care relationship connected over time.
Secure Communication
Communicate with VirtualMD through the secure patient experience available to you as a member.
Connected Medical Record
Your relevant visits, medications, laboratory results, care plans, and clinical information remain organized within your medical record.
Ongoing Monitoring
When your condition requires monitoring, relevant health information can be reviewed over time rather than evaluated as a single snapshot.
Physician-Led Care
Technology supports the care. Dr. Patel remains at the center of it.
Monitoring and prevention
Care doesn’t have to wait for your next visit
Remote monitoring when it makes sense
For appropriate patients and conditions, VirtualMD can incorporate health information collected outside the traditional office visit. Depending on your care needs, this may include:
- Blood pressure
- Weight
- Blood glucose
- Pulse oximetry
- Other relevant home measurements
Supported remote-monitoring devices can help capture health trends that may be useful during ongoing care. Technology helps capture the trend. Your physician decides what it means.
Prevention is part of primary care
Your care isn’t limited to the problem you have today.
When appropriate, Dr. Patel also considers your longer-term health. Your care may include:
- Preventive screenings
- Vaccination needs
- Cardiometabolic risk assessment
- Routine health monitoring
- Age-appropriate preventive care
- Sex-specific preventive considerations
- Risk-factor identification and counseling
The goal isn’t simply to treat what’s happening today. It’s to help protect your health tomorrow.
Virtual when it makes sense. In person when it matters.
Virtual care has boundaries. Good medicine requires knowing them.
VirtualMD is designed to provide as much primary care as can be safely and appropriately delivered virtually. But some medical situations require services that cannot be performed through a screen. You may need:
- A physical examination
- Laboratory testing
- Diagnostic imaging
- A procedure
- In-person specialty care
- Emergency or hospital treatment
When those services are needed, Dr. Patel helps coordinate the appropriate next step. Virtual care is the front door — not a barrier to in-person care.
What VirtualMD Is Designed For
Ongoing primary care across a broad range of medical needs.
Preventive Care
Health maintenance, screening coordination, risk assessment, and preventive planning.
Chronic Conditions
Ongoing management and monitoring of appropriate stable conditions.
Same-Day Sick Care
Evaluation of appropriate minor, non-emergency illnesses.
Women’s & Men’s Health
Hormonal, metabolic, reproductive, and age-related concerns within the scope of internal medicine.
Weight & Metabolic Health
Evidence-based medical weight management and cardiometabolic care.
Specialized Internal Medicine Care
Digestive, pulmonary, kidney, autoimmune, neurologic, infectious, musculoskeletal, and other conditions within the practice’s scope.
Explore our services for the full detail on each of these.
We’re not an emergency room.
VirtualMD is an outpatient primary-care practice. It is not designed for medical emergencies, severe symptoms requiring immediate examination, or conditions requiring emergency intervention.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency: call 911 or seek emergency care immediately. Your safety always comes first.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to know which service I need before becoming a patient?
No. You don’t need to diagnose yourself or choose the perfect service. Start with your health concern, and Dr. Patel will determine the appropriate clinical pathway.
How do I get laboratory testing if VirtualMD is 100% virtual?
When laboratory testing is clinically appropriate, Dr. Patel can place an electronic order to an available laboratory near you. You complete the testing locally, and the results return for review as part of your medical record.
What happens if I need imaging or an in-person procedure?
VirtualMD coordinates the appropriate next step. Depending on your situation, Dr. Patel may order local imaging, recommend an in-person evaluation, or refer you to an appropriate specialist.
Can I communicate with VirtualMD between visits?
Yes. Secure communication is part of the ongoing patient experience, subject to your membership plan and the practice’s stated availability. Messaging is not a substitute for emergency care.
What happens if I need a specialist?
When specialty care is clinically appropriate, Dr. Patel can coordinate referrals to an appropriate in-person specialist. Your primary-care relationship with VirtualMD can continue while you receive specialty care.
What happens if my results are abnormal?
Dr. Patel reviews your results in the context of your overall health. Depending on the findings, he may recommend treatment, additional testing, closer monitoring, or specialist evaluation.
Can everything be treated virtually?
No — and we don’t pretend it can. Some medical situations require physical examination, procedures, imaging, emergency treatment, or specialty care. VirtualMD is designed to provide the care that can safely be delivered virtually and coordinate the rest when needed.
Is VirtualMD just telehealth?
No. A telehealth visit is one encounter. VirtualMD is designed around an ongoing primary-care relationship that includes visits, communication, testing, monitoring, treatment, prevention, and follow-up.
Your doctor is just a screen away.
Primary care that fits the way you live. Physician-led. 100% virtual across Washington State. Built around an ongoing relationship — not a one-time visit.
Virtual when appropriate. Local when necessary. Physician-led throughout.