Blair B.
Unacceptable processes and delays
The entire point of a service like Galileo is supposed to be convenient, accessible primary care. My experience has been anything but that. Their “team-based care model” seems to mean that nearly every time you reach out, you get a different clinician. There is very little sense that anyone has reviewed your history or understands the context of your ongoing care. I’ve repeatedly had to explain the same medical history, treatment goals, and prior conversations, only to get different opinions or generic responses from whoever happens to pick up the request that day. It does not feel like having a primary care provider. It feels like starting over every time. The workflow itself makes it even more frustrating. You can submit a care or refill request and have no indication of what is happening with it—or whether anyone has even seen it. I recently had detailed messages sit completely unacknowledged for nearly 24 hours and finally had to send “Hello?!” just to get a response. When someone did respond, it was another provider sending a boilerplate template that did not address the concerns I had already explained. I also learned that simply submitting a request apparently does not put you into the actual care queue. Someone first has to review it and send you a form, which you then have to complete before the request actually moves forward. None of that is clear to the patient. So if no one gets to that initial step, your request just sits there. Then, once you finally get through that process, you essentially have two options: schedule a call, which may not have availability for days, or choose the “next available” clinician and wait an unspecified amount of time for someone to become available. There is no meaningful indication of when that will be. It could be hours, a day or more—or, based on my experience, potentially never unless you follow up yourself. But once they finally message you, suddenly the clock is ticking. You have five minutes to respond and be immediately available. Miss that five-minute window after waiting an indefinite amount of time for them, and you’re out of luck and have to try again. That is an absurd workflow for something being sold as convenient healthcare. Patients have jobs, meetings, families, and lives. You cannot expect someone to monitor an app indefinitely because Galileo cannot tell them when a clinician will be available, then require an immediate response within five minutes when Galileo finally gets around to them. I understand that virtual care involves shared teams and that clinicians get busy. What I don’t understand is a care model with so little continuity, no transparent queue or status, long periods with zero acknowledgment, and workflows that put the burden of those operational failures back on the patient. This is supposed to make accessing routine healthcare easier. Instead, I’ve spent more time following up, re-explaining myself, watching the app, and trying to navigate Galileo’s internal processes than I would expect from traditional primary care. At that point, what exactly is the convenience we pay for? And for employers and health plans offering Galileo as a healthcare benefit: your members deserve better than this.