For more than a decade, virtual care delivered on its original promise. Geography and scheduling became less of an obstacle, and care moved into living rooms, onto phones, and into moments that never quite fit inside a traditional workday. Video and phone visits are now a familiar part of how people access care.

But access alone is no longer enough. The rise of generative AI accelerated how quickly and independently people seek health guidance, often outside traditional clinic hours.

At the same time, the direct to consumer solutions market grew 25% in 2024, raising expectations for immediacy and flexibility. These shifts in behavior have underscored the need for convenient care that’s grounded in clinical rigor, safety, and trust.

For many people, virtual care is still thought of as a live interaction: a scheduled video visit or time spent waiting in a digital queue. Asynchronous care changes that experience by allowing members to request care in minutes, without needing to connect live with a provider.

That distinction matters. When people need fast access, they often default to whatever is immediately available, including urgent care centers and emergency departments. Those settings can come with higher out of pocket costs, longer visits, and delays for issues that may not require in person treatment.

By making access to care even easier, asynchronous care can help shift demand away from high cost settings like emergency departments and brick and mortar urgent care centers. MD Live by Evernorth offers an asynchronous care modality, E-Treatment, that does this with oversight from board certified physicians, clear escalation pathways, and rigorous safety standards.

E-Treatment was designed to offer quick, talk-free access to urgent care from board-certified doctors. Since its launch in April 2024, the modality has made a measurable impact:

• More than 198,000 visits have been completed through E-Treatment
• The seven day bounce back rate is just 7%
• 85% of patients were treated without escalation to a live interaction
• Average time to care is ten minutes or less
• Repeat usage reached 19% in the first nineteen months

Those numbers matter because they show how care quality, convenience, and clinical rigor can co-exist and scale.

E-Treatment was designed to fit into any schedule, and the clinical model is explicit. When patients seek care through E-Treatment, a board-certified physician reviews their intake form and provides a diagnosis and treatment plan.

If the physician determines it necessary, the patient can be escalated and treated by phone, video, or in person.

E-Treatment delivers convenient care for over 100 non-emergent conditions, without sacrificing the quality members have come to expect from a traditional MD Live Urgent Care visit. A wide breadth of conditions is supported, with clear next steps if needed.

That clarity is critical. Expanded access only works when patients and plans trust what happens next.

Scaling with purpose.

What this signals for the future of virtual care.