Frequently Asked Questions – For Nurses

How does Nurse-1-1 Work?

Nurse-1-1 Health Experts get paid as independent contractors to connect with an amazing and friendly community of parents looking for quick health information and conversation through chat. Nurse-1-1 chat is secure, private, and anonymous. When you’re ready to chat and start making money, simply open the Nurse-1-1 Health Expert app, select only the chats you want to help with and start earning money. Do this as often as you’d like, anytime, anywhere.

Sign up at https://nurse-1-1.com/health-expert/sign-up to learn more.

Please see the Nurse-1-1 Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for more information. If you have any questions please contact us at support@nurse-1-1.com.

My medical practice want to use Nurse-1-1 as a triage service for patients. How do I sign them up?

You can sign up your practice from your health expert dashboard. Once you sign up as a health expert at https://nurse-1-1.com/health-expert/sign-up you will be given access to your Health Expert dashboard. If you are already signed up, you can log into your dashboard at https://nurse-1-1.com/health-expert/login Once logged into your dashboard you'll be able to create a new practice in the "Team" tab.  Create a new team, fill out the details for each practicing location, and add new team members who your work with. Once that is filled out correctly someone from Nurse-1-1 will contact you to complete the setup.  If you have any questions, contact us at support@nurse-1-1.com

What is the difference between "Existing Patient", "Local Lead", and "Independent paid" chats ?

Existing Patient chats - When you belong to a team at a Clinical Practice. Patients from your practice can connect with you on Nurse-1-1 in a HIPAA compliant chat. Patients do not pay for these chats as they are considered a triage service your practice offers to them.

Local Lead Chats - When you belong to a team at a Clinical Practice and our medical team approves your application, you can optionally start receiving local leads. These chats are from people local to your clinic who are looking to chat with a local nurse. Patients do not pay for these chats as they are considered a triage service that your practice offers to the local community. Use these leads to connect with your local community and educate them of the services your clinic may be able to provide for them. Nurse-1-1 does not charge clinics for each lead. Contact us at Support@nurse-1-1.com if your clinical practice would be interested in receiving local leads. 

Independent Paid Chats - Regardless of whether or not you belong to a Clinical Practice or not, when our medical team approves your application, you can optionally start getting paid to chat with people online who are looking to chat with a health expert. At the start of these chats, Nurse-1-1 will let you know how much you'll get paid for these chats and when the person has accepted payments for these chats. 

What is Nurse-1-1 smart routing?

Nurse-1-1 has a smart routing algorithm that will match patients with the best nurse for their health concerns.  The smart routing system will connect patients based on their existing provider, location, age, gender, health concerns, nurse availability, and other factors. Each time a patient and nurse complete a chat on Nurse-1-1, provided feedback on satisfaction scores are then use to improve the smart routing algorithm. This constant feedback mechanism helps make the smart routing on Nurse-1-1 better over time for the entire Nurse-1-1 community. 

Do patients pay to use Nurse-1-1?

Yes and no. We work with urgent care clinics, hospital groups, and insurance providers to allow their nurses to provide triage and helpful health information to their existing patients. These chats are free. In other cases, we provide a way for these partners to access new local patients who may also want to connect with their nurses and potentially book an appointment at the partner's practice. These types of chats are also free for patients and we call them "Local Leads". If a patient is not an existing patient of a partnering practice, a member of a partnering insurance plan, or isn't located near a partnering clinic who's looking to grow their practice, then those patients will be given the option to pay to chat with eligible Nurse-1-1 health experts. We call these "Independent Paid Chats" and nurses will be paid half of the payment made by the patient. The patients are charged $12.50 per chat.

Is there a time limit for Nurse-1-1 Health Experts to give a reply to patients?

When a Health Expert elects to chat with a patient, we ask Health Experts to start the chat and to respond to each message right away. Nurse-1-1 is a text-based chat with a patient so the more responsive you are to each message the better the experience will be for the patient and the more likely you will receive more requests in the future! Most chats last about 5 to 10 minutes but they can take more time. The time is up to you, the Health Expert. Health Experts are graded by the patient at the completion of each chat so it is up to you to make the user feel they have been helped. These patient provided grades directly affect how many chats you will receive in the future. For Independent Paid Chats, these grades can also affect how much money you can make on Nurse-1-1. For clinics partnering with Nurse-1-1, these grades will help our system know which nurses are best at answering specifics types of patients' concerns. 

Once Nurse-1-1 Health Experts sign up are they obligated to work for a certain amount of time?

Nope. You can start when you want, quit when you want, and start back up whenever you want. No obligations at all. We want to be as flexible for Nurse-1-1 Health Experts as possible. Turn the app on when you want to chat with patients and shut it off when you don't. For Independent Paid Chats, this can mean making extra money when you want and shutting it off when you are busy. For partnering clinics and practices, this means allowing your nurse to work more flexible patient triage hours.

Why are nurses called “Health Experts” on Nurse-1-1?

You may have noticed that nurses who sign up and pass our Nurse-1-1 verification process are referred to as “Health Experts”. We do this because we also have physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses on Nurse-1-1 and we wanted to have one name that described the role clearly to patients. This role requires the experience and expertise of typical RNs, NPs, and PAs but in a different setting than many are used to. The role of the Health Expert in Nurse-1-1 does not include diagnosis, testing, prescribing or physical exams. The scope of practice that an RN, NP, or PA performs every day in a typical setting is much different than what we are expecting from them as they chat on Nurse-1-1. Conveying these differences to RNs, NPs, and PAs who are new to Nurse-1-1 is very important. We want to be clear that you will not be working as aRNs, NPs, or PAs with Nurse-1-1. We also believe this will help set the right expectations to patients who sign up to discuss their concerns and health questions on Nurse-1-1. The minimal requirement to become a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert is to have a current RN, NP, or PA licence, but as a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert, you will be using your experience and knowledge to provide information and potentially schedule appointments, but will not be diagnosing, prescribing, testing or providing a physical exam.

Are “Health Experts” always Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, or Physician Assistants who are located in the United States?

Yes. Our belief at Nurse-1-1 is that Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants provide care than no other healthcare professional can provide. We believe that Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants are the future of cost effective health care and are the heart and soul of the medical community. They care for the entire individual, physically, emotionally and spiritually and strive to encourage the health and well being of all aspects of people and their families' lives. We want your knowledge and your background as a caring professional to help guide patients. To be a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert, one MUST currently be a certified RN, NP, or PA in the United States, pass our background check, and agree to Nurse-1-1’s promise to patients.

Are Nurse-1-1 chats ever phone calls or video chats?

No. Nurse-1-1 chats are private and, in many ways, anonymous text-based chats. Photos and links to relevant health information can be shared within the chat to help better explain the patient’s concerns or for the Health Expert to share relevant health information. Being chat-based allows both the user and the Health Expert to chat without having to find a private location to quietly talk or to make sure they look presentable for a video chat. Finding a secluded stairwell at work to talk or worrying about lighting at night in your bedroom for a video call are not concerns we want users or Health Experts to worry about. We want you to chat when you have a few minutes just as you already do with your friends and family. We want this to be easy and fit into your daily lifestyle of texting and online chatting. This is why Nurse-1-1 reduces operational costs over triage call centers who need staff to commute to call centers and talk with only one patient at a time, call back patients, and then usually update charts at the end of call. Making Nurse-1-1 text-based removes those costly constraints for both patients and providers.

Where do I download the Nurse-1-1 App for Health Experts?

You can download the Nurse-1-1 App here https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/videwell-health-expert/id1229504832?mt=8.

What type of chats will I have with users as a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert?

The Nurse-1-1 Health Expert will have the opportunity to cover patient concerns in a friendly, non-intimidating, and sympathetic conversation. Nurse-1-1 chats provide patients with health information. Patients may then decide if a trip to the emergency room, urgent care, or home care is right for them. Other patients might have read something online that worried or confused them and just need to clarify the information they read. Health Experts can choose to answer chats from either existing patients, potentially new local patients for your practice, or to just get paid to chat in Independent Paid Chats. Health Experts will have the ability to filter age groups based on comfort level and interest. You will be able to see the patient's concerns and symptoms before accepting a chat with a patient so you'll ultimately decide which chats to answer. Each chat with a patient will help users better understand health information they may have read online or heard from a friend or family member. We want to answer basic questions about health and safety.

What is an "Exiting Patient" chat? 

An exiting patient chat, is a chat that comes from a patient who has signed up for Nurse-1-1 from a nurses associated clinic's landing page on Nurse-1-1.  These are effectively patients of the organization you work for.  These chats are free to the patient and you are not paid for these chats. 

What is a "Local Lead" chat? 

A "Local Lead" chat is a chat from a person who can potentially become a patient of your organization. These patients are local to your practice's location and can possibly come in to your location after your chat.  You can even book an appointment for them through the chat, just as you would if they had called your practices phone number. These chats are free to the patient and you are not paid for these chats. 

Are Nurse-1-1 Health Experts practicing medicine or diagnosing users on Nurse-1-1?

Nurse-1-1 is not a telemedicine solution. Nurse-1-1 is designed to help people get relevant health information from Health Experts rather than searching the internet, WebMD or asking questions on Facebook groups or forums. Many patients read information online, scare themselves, and in some cases improperly head to a local emergency room to get care. Although Health Experts are required to be certified registered nurses, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants in the United States, Nurse-1-1 Health Experts are not practicing medicine nor providing Medical advice on Nurse-1-1 unless working within the protocols of a partnering clinic or organization. Instead, Nurse-1-1 Health Experts listen to questions and concerns, ask pointed questions and then provide users with common symptoms, relevant health information, general treatments to different types of conditions as well as questions they should ask their primary care provider. Nurse-1-1 is not a replacement for medical care from a patient’s care provider but instead a better form of information that can help people understand the choices they are making in deciding which care is best for them.

How does Nurse-1-1 address liability and privacy concerns that plague other online forums, Facebook Groups, or text messaging chats?

• Nurse-1-1’s disclaimer to patients emphasizes that Nurse-1-1 does not provide a diagnosis or prescription to patients and that Health Experts are not forming a patient/provider relationship nor are they providing medical advice. For partnering healthcare organizations that provide their own set of Health Experts but employ the Nurse-1-1 platform, the partnering organization sets their own liability practices and must carry their own liability coverage for the Health Experts using the Nurse-1-1 platform.
• Nurse-1-1 has security measures in place to help ensure content in each chat is encrypted with end-to-end encryption and is secure. That means that every message sent (both from a Health Expert and from a user) is transformed into an encrypted code that can only be unencrypted by the health expert’s account and the user’s account.  Nurse-1-1 also has authorized access via a 3rd encryption key for HIPAA compliant audit purposes.

Do Nurse-1-1 Health Experts need to have any liability insurance coverage before they get started?

• If you are a nurse from a Nurse-1-1 partnering clinic, please discuss your coverage with your employer. You should not need any additional liability insurance before getting started on Nurse-1-1.
• If you are not working with a Nurse-1-1 partnering clinic, check with your current liability insurer to see if you are personally covered to provide health information on Nurse-1-1.  Health experts do not provide diagnoses or prescriptions for patients. Instead, Nurse-1-1 allows people to get health information similar to how WebMD provides health information to its visitors but without unnecessary stress of unanswered questions. Nurse-1-1 health information is provided in the form of a friendly, knowledgeable, health expert who is familiar with common topics and will chat with the users.
• If you are still unsure about your coverage for providing health information on Nurse-1-1, contact us for more information and ways to be included in Nurse-1-1's liability coverage.

What needs to happen before I can become a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert and accept independent paid chats or local leads?

Each applicant for independent paid chats and local leads goes through the following process before they are accepted to provide health information to users:

• Confirming an active license and certification as an RN, NP, or PA within the United States
• Background check
• Review by Nurse-1-1’s in-house doctors and lawyers to ensure proper experience and fit with Nurse-1-1’s values and culture
• In some cases, a video interview

The minimum requirement to be considered for a position as a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert is to be a certified NP, RN, or PA in the United States, and pass our background screening check. Typically we look for at least 5 years of experience. NPs can have 4 years of RN experience and at least 1 year of NP experience.  However, we look at everyone's application independently. If you don't match this criteria but think you have what it takes, please apply and email us at support@nurse-1-1.com and tell us why.  We love to hear from all NPs, RNs, and PAs! 

What is the pay structure for Nurse-1-1 Health Experts and how does it work?

Before deciding to answer a patient's chat, the Nurse-1-1 app will provide you with the payment you will receive for successfully completing the chat. Health Experts will not receive payment for chats with patients of a partnering organization as your employer is already providing you with compensation. For Independent Paid Chats (those not eligible to be part of a partnering organization), Nurse-1-1 Health Experts typically receive $10 per each successful Nurse-1-1 chat. Most chats last about 5 to 10 minutes but they can take more time. Nurse-1-1 Health Experts work whenever they want, answer as many chats as they want, and shut the app off whenever they want. Independent Paid Chats patients are charged $12.50 to chat each time with a Nurse-1-1 Health Expert. The 20% $2.50 transaction fee is used for marketing/operational costs, as well as for paying any referral bonuses to Nurse-1-1 Health Experts (such as the $100 Nurse-1-1 Health Expert referral bonus).

Do Nurse-1-1 Health Experts have to keep track of our own chats for receiving payments or taxes?

No. The app will keep track of your chats for you and provide 1099 reports via the Health Expert Dashboard when needed. Log into your dashboard at: https://nurse-1-1.com/health-expert/login.

How are Nurse-1-1 Health Experts paid for Independent Paid Chats? Direct deposit? Mailed checks, etc?

Payments are sent via direct deposit to your bank account. To be eligible to receive payments or bonuses from Nurse-1-1, make sure to provide direct deposit information in your Health Expert dashboard. Log into your dashboard at: https://nurse-1-1.com/health-expert/login.

What if a Nurse-1-1 Health Experts experiences an inappropriate user?

If a health expert experiences a user of the app that is being inappropriate (it is the internet after all), you can contact us at support@nurse-1-1.com right away. We have mechanisms in place to help prevent these types of situations.

What is the Nurse-1-1 Health Expert Oath?

Caring for patients on your own terms has never been easier! However, with this freedom comes great responsibility. Many of Nurse-1-1’s patients are stressed and searching for a friendly shoulder to lean on and a trusted source for health information. This is why Nurse-1-1 carefully selects each Health Expert, ensuring they are warm, caring, compassionate individuals with a personality that helps calm patients during difficult times. By becoming a Health Expert, you promise to uphold Nurse-1-1’s values, ensure full patient confidentiality, do no harm, and always try your best to help your patient. There is a reason we are not a chat-bot or a symptom checker company like so many others, and that’s because nothing can truly substitute the experience a patient has with trusted professionals like nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. Oh, and be yourself - use emojis, be friendly, show your warmth - because patients will pick up on it and it’ll go a long way!