Long gone are the days of taking off half of the work day to see a doctor. First the trip to the clinic had to be made, then finding a parking spot, then the time spent waiting in the waiting room going through outdated magazines, and then finally the 15 minutes spent in the doctor’s office. The time spent in the office was brief, but the time getting there amounted to several hours. Such is the plight of many in dealing with health care. But for an increasing number of people, doctor appointments now take place on the couch or at the office desk, or at any point other than making a doctor’s office appointment when symptoms suggest an appointment is necessary.
Virtual health care through video doctor appointments is here, and developed from novelty to routine faster than most medical novelties reach public awareness. The technical process is no more complex than people video call mother and father and friends regularly. The acceptance of the medical profession of video calling as a legitimate method of consulting with patients, and the patients finding out that it works surprisingly well for many ailments is what has made this innovation advance so rapidly.
Setting up the appointment
Booking a telehealth doctor appointment with a provider such as Holistica Health is most often done through a site on the Internet or an app. The process is much like the process of booking any appointment on the Internet standards, you pick out a time, request the appointment giving some basic information about what the planned visit is about, then await your appointment time. Most services give availability in a day or two, sometimes, even, for same day service. This is a great improvement in direct contrast with those long waits in weeks for the traditional GP appointment methods. The service wants to know medical history, what medicines a patient is taking, and symptoms of the illness to assist the doctor in determining the proper treatment through this preliminary information furnished to the doctor before the doctor patient consultation begins. The preparation involved is indeed more than is usual for many trips to the doctor’s office, where the doctor may be seeing the patient’s information for the first time in the moment that they walk through the door.
At the appointed time, the patients connect via video telephone from their phones, tables, or computers. Most providers send out a reminder link. The technology is designed to be simple. If a person can learn how to video call their family, they should be able to understand how to use telemedicine.
The Consultation
Once connected, the consultation proceeds pretty much as a regular office either. The doctor introduces himself. The doctor asks what they can do for the patient. The doctor proceeds to conduct the clinical assessment. What the doctor is able to see the patient’s face. They are also able to see how the patient is moving. The patient is able to speak, the doctor can listen to the patient’s speech pattern. The doctor can listen to the patient for any clinical information they might have. The visual cue and auditory cue of a patient reveals valuable diagnostic information.
If it happens that a patient presents for a skin element the doctor can ask the patient to come in closer to the screen so that rashes, wounds etc, can be observed in detail. The cell phone camera gets good enough, too, so that the doctor can observe the detailed level of observation when needed. As far as respiratory elements are concerned the doctor can observe the patient, listen to the breath sounds and observe for any respiratory distress. Though he does not have a stethoscope the act of observation gives many hints of how their breath sounds go.
The questions that are ordinarily asked in any medical consultation are no different in the video medium. The doctor asks how long the symptoms have existed, their severity, what makes better or worse, and general health factors. The patients detail their feelings as best they can. The whole situation leads to an understanding that gives the clinical picture, diagnosis and treatment. Services such as have improved processes of telehealth consultations so that working with such services feels seamless and appropriate whether for routine or emergent health care matters.
What Works Well Virtually
Certain health issues work quite well in telehealth settings. No doubt mental health consultations are somewhat more easily provided by video. This is possibly even more ideal than in-person visits for some so that patients can be in their own surroundings feeling secure. Discussions of depression, anxiety, stress management and discussion of overall mental wellness are, not requiring hands-on examination.
Common acute illnesses such as upper respiratory illnesses, urinary tract infections, skin diseases, allergies, and digestive complaints are also quite amenable to consultations by video. The physician can discuss the symptoms, treat the problems, and prescribe medication without the necessity of needing to examine the patient physically.
The ongoing care of chronic illnesses suits the virtual care quite well. For example, the diabetic does not require a physical examination for each visit for discussion of blood sugar levels and drug adjustments. Physiological monitoring of blood pressure, reviews of medications, and discussion of test results can all be accomplished by video quite well.
Renewals of prescriptions which in the past would require appointments to be made some weeks in advance, merely to have a “script” issued for the ongoing medications, can now be accomplished with minutes of time by video consultation. Here again the drug is known by the physician to be working satisfactorily, problems are solved, and the “script” can by now be transmitted electronically to the pharmacy.
The Distinct Limitations
Physical examinations requiring hands-on perception cannot, as yet, be accomplished by video. Limiting the doctor’s ability to check for lumps, test reflexes, look in the throat and ears with instruments, listen to the heart and lung sounds with a stethoscope and palpate the abdomen means that several different conditions and symptoms need in-person examination.
A person with acute severe symptoms requires in-person attention or emergency care. Chest pain, shortness of breath, severe injuries, suddenly occurring severe headaches, and high temperatures in children—these conditions need what only personal examination provides, a complete physical examination. Collections of telehealth doctors recognize this fact and direct their patients accordingly.
Tests and procedures of necessity need the physical presence of the patient. Blood tests, x-rays, ultrasound and diagnostic investigations require that the patient go to labs or radiology clinics. The telehealth doctor can order these tests, order them to be done, and treat them later with his patient by telehealth means. However, the tests themselves are done elsewhere.
Why Do People Use It
The greatest advantage is the time saved. A digital consultation lasting 10 minutes will last 10 minutes. There are no journeys to be made, no parking problems nor waiting. For persons with limit settings, this efficiency means the difference between getting medical attention in a timely manner and putting it off indefinitely.
Access to the doctor is immensely increased by telehealth for certain groups of the public. Country people can see specialists without suffering a day’s journey to the city. Old people with trouble walking do not need to know tedious journeys to outpatient clinics. Parents with young children do not need to expose sick children to doctor visits or think of babysitting.
The factor of being able to consult from the home environment is another. Many people simply prefer being safe at home. The talking of intimate health matters from the home space rather than a clinical environment makes the discussion of these intimate problems easier.
The Administrative Side
Prescriptions are sent electronically to the preferred pharmacy of the patient. Most of the pharmacies, being paperless now, cope with the electronic routines comfortably. Medical certificates are sent by email. Referrals to specialists are processed digitally. The administrative paper-work connected with healthcare runs smoothly through the virtual route as well.
Follow-up consultations are either virtual or personal as required by the situation. If physical examination becomes necessary, the doctor recommends personal consultation. If in-person follow-up care is not required further, the option of course remains.
The medical records are linked through the healthcare system regardless of the way in which the doctor is contacted. It makes no difference whether a patient sees the doctor virtually or personally; the information is transferred to the same central source. Results of tests, medication alterations, and clinical notes all have their continuity in relation to both types of visits.
Where Healthcare Is Going
Video consultations are more than a means of health delivery in a convenient fashion. They are charting a new course in the manner of health delivery by getting rid of the obstacles that stop people from taking timely medical care. Distance, mobility of the patients, and time involved in attending concerts lessen when the doctor’s appointment can be made any place that the patient is.
This will not sound the death knell of personal healthcare. Where it is necessary that there be physical examination of the patients, this will be done by personal visit. Physical examination, procedures and emergencies are in person. However, in the large bulk of health-care needs, where physical examination is unnecessary, the provisions for consultation virtually mean that health problems can be looked after practically as soon as the worry of getting to a clinic which can be followed by remedying the condition can be ruled out.
