How Integrated Family Care Uses Spruce to Let Patients Share Photos and Files

Integrated Family Care, founded by Dr. Amy Mechley and Dr. Eleanor Glass, practices whole-person primary care, looking at physical health, emotional wellbeing, sleep, nutrition, and stress together rather than one symptom at a time. Care like that depends on seeing the full picture, so their patients use Spruce secure app-based messaging to send messages, photos, videos, and PDF attachments straight to their providers. Everything stays in one secure, encrypted thread, so the documentation a doctor needs to make a good call is right there in the conversation. The team also uses Spruce to hand off a shared phone line between providers, so whoever’s covering calls gets them.

A bit about the business…

At Integrated Family Care, “Integrated” means integrating all aspects of your life into your care: your physical body, emotional wellbeing, the foods you eat, how well you sleep, your daily movement, and managing stress. These behaviors have the greatest effect on your overall health. We are here because we want to provide healthcare, not just sick care, and we believe primary care should be accessible and affordable!

How long have you been doing it?

We just celebrated 5 years in business! We opened in 2017 after working together as colleagues and teachers.

What first brought you to Spruce?

The Spruce app makes it convenient for our patients to exchange messages with us and have the comfort of knowing communication is secure, encrypted, and HIPAA-compliant.

How do you use Spruce at work?

We use Spruce for secure messaging with patients, but also to send and receive photos, videos, and PDF attachments.

Spruce also makes it easy for us to sign our phone lines out to one another, so that covering calls is seamless. This helps us enjoy our time off!

What is your favorite Spruce feature?

We love saved messages! We use them for all kinds of things—from our favorite ankle sprain recovery techniques, to giving really clear instructions on how to get labs drawn, to sharing up-to-date Covid guidelines with patients.

What do you like to do most when you’re not working?

We love being primary care doctors, but we also love our time outside of medicine!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can patients share photos, videos, and PDFs with their provider through Spruce?
Yes. Spruce secure app-based messaging supports photos, videos, and PDF attachments, so a patient can send an image of a skin condition, a prescription bottle, an insurance card, or a document straight to their provider, and it all stays inside one secure thread.

Where do the files patients share end up?
Each photo, video, or document stays attached to that patient’s conversation thread, so the care team can find it later instead of digging through email or personal phones.

How can a primary care practice use Spruce beyond messaging?
Along with secure messaging and attachments, a practice can use Spruce for phone, and sign phone lines out between providers so covering calls stays seamless. Saved messages (templates) are also useful for things like recovery instructions and lab prep.

Is Spruce HIPAA-compliant?
Spruce supports HIPAA-compliant communications across phone, texting, faxing, and telehealth. Every eligible Spruce organization automatically receives a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) as part of the terms of service, with no separate agreement, opt-in, or additional fees required. You electronically agree to the Spruce BAA when you create an organization on Spruce, and you can review this agreement in our terms of service.

You can learn even more about Integrated Family Care on Facebook at @ifcdirect. 

New to Spruce? Try us out FREE for 14 days: https://l.sprucehealth.com/startspruce