At-Home Diagnosis and Treatment for an Adult RSV Case

Dealing with the symptoms of a cold or the flu can be a nuisance at any time of the year – but can be even more inconvenient during the holiday season. With so many illnesses going around right now with similar symptoms, it’s hard to know what you have and what to do when you’re not feeling well.

Anna is a young professional in her first job after graduating from college. She had been very busy at work, trying to navigate through a heavy workload, while showcasing her abilities to her peers and leaders. At the same time, she’s been busy with shopping and other preparations to get ready to spend time with family and friends over the holidays.

Recently, Anna had been feeling under the weather. She had a decrease in her appetite, was highly fatigued, had a cough, and a runny nose. She chalked it up to a busy week, but when she developed a fever of 102 degrees, she decided that she needed to seek out treatment.

She knew that she had access to UCM Digital Health through her employer. She quickly pulled up the email from her employer with all of her benefit information and learned that all she needed to do was to go to the ‘Sam by UCM’ mobile app to get started and connect with a provider within minutes. She saw there was a $0 copay to see a UCM provider as compared to $25 for her to see her primary care doctor in the office, or $50 to go to urgent care. UCM sounded like a perfect solution to Anna, so she opened up the app, clicked on the “Urgent or Emergent Care” tab, selected her main symptom, and clicked to request a consult. Within a few minutes, she was connected to a UCM provider who was ready to help.

The UCM provider listened as Anna described her ongoing symptoms – her fever, runny nose, cough, fatigue, and a headache that left her unable to focus on anything. After hearing all of this, the provider ordered tests to aid with the diagnosis. A care coordinator helped Anna to find a facility close to her home to go to for the testing. Within a few days, she heard back from UCM with her results.

The UCM provider determined that Anna had developed a case of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). When Anna first heard this, she was extremely surprised as she thought that RSV was a condition that only affected infants and young children! This is a common misconception and the truth is that RSV can also impact adults, however, their symptoms tend to mimic those of the common cold and tend to be milder than the RSV cases in children.

The UCM provider recommended that Anna take an over-the-counter pain medication and fever reducer to relieve her symptoms, as well as drink plenty of fluids. She suggested that Anna take a few days off of work to rest and recuperate. For adult RSV patients, this is the best course of treatment, as there is no specific prescription available for moderate cases like Anna’s.

Ultimately, Anna was relieved that she was able to receive the same level of care – if not better – directly from the comfort of her home. After three days of rest, a care coordinator reached back out to Anna to check on how she was doing, to see if she had any additional questions, and if there was anything else that the UCM care team could do to assist. Anna was pleased to report that she was already feeling better and her symptoms only resembled those of a mild cold at that point. Anna saved money and saved herself the inconvenience of commuting to multiple in-person visits. She was able to put her full focus on her recovery.

Anna’s employer benefitted from claims savings through cost avoidance since she did not have an office, urgent care, or ER visit. They had a happy, healthy, highly satisfied employee back in the office in no time!