What is an online medical appointment?
These are medical appointments that are made telematically. Tools such as telephone, chat, e-mail, or videoconferencing are used for this purpose.
However, online medical consultations are not only limited to the appointment with the doctor, but also to the entire process prior to scheduling an appointment online or following up with patients.
Characteristics of an online medical appointment: how would it work?
The process of making an online medical consultation is very simple. Your own clinic can set up its own protocols for booking a session with the doctor.
For example:
- Users can easily request a free online medical appointment online at your clinic (with our medical appointment scheduling tool).
- The appointment information is assigned to the corresponding doctor, who can access it from his or her medical agenda.
- Send a reminder by SMS or plan any other action you are going to perform with that patient.
- Make the appointment online by the telematic means that you offer to your clients. For example, by telephone, being able to access their clinical history at that moment from the software.
- Issue a first medical diagnosis online (only if possible), read or request the necessary laboratory tests.
- Follow up with the patient online, for example by booking further appointments from this one.
Types of online medical consultations
Obviously, not all doctor's appointments can be made online. On many occasions, the patient's presence will be required, especially if specific actions need to be performed.
However, for tasks that require medical advice or the issuing of a prescription based on the symptoms described by the patient, virtual medical consultations are often more than sufficient.
Virtual medical care can be classified into different types:
- Telephone medical consultation: when communication takes place via telephone.
- Videoconference: this is communication between the doctor and the patient through a video call.
- Chat: there are clinics that implement a chat so that the patient can talk to the doctor more quickly.
- E-mail: This is advice or consultation via e-mail, where communication takes place in writing.
The advantages of telemedicine
As new technologies advance, telemedicine is also becoming more popular in the medical sector. Clinics can thus optimize time and lighten their busy schedules by making virtual medical appointments that do not require the doctor's physical presence.
Among the main benefits of the virtual doctor, the following are worth mentioning:
Free first consultation
Many times, the patient is just evaluating which clinic he/she would like to work with. For that, he/she prefers to have a meeting via videoconference and book medical appointments online.
This allows clinics to open up a form of marketing that also saves them time. This is the free first consultation, which for example many reproductive or psychological clinics often offer to their patients.
Get a free diagnosis online
Online appointments save travel time and allow the patient to find out more quickly what is wrong with him or her. Online medical consultation is often the best solution.
Getting a free online medical diagnosis is another great advantage, since this way you can act more quickly than if the patient had to wait for a slot in the agenda.
Lighten the waiting list
Optimizing the medical agenda and improving organization is another direct advantage of online medical appointments.
Often face-to-face or traditional appointments are less productive since a phone call can resolve the patient's needs more quickly.
Save time and gain productivity
From the online medical consultation, we can extract an improvement in the productivity of doctors and an important time saving, both for doctors and patients, but also for the administrative staff.
When you schedule a medical appointment online, you can automate numerous processes that were previously done manually. In addition, you reduce waiting room congestion and contribute to better appointment management.
Cost reduction
It should also be added that if some appointments are handled exclusively online, you can also make significant cost savings.
For example, if you combine an online medical appointment with a diagnosis and an electronic prescription, you can save on paper printing costs.
For what types of conditions is virtual medical care recommended?
Obviously, virtual care cannot replace traditional appointments completely. Many patient needs can only be resolved when the physician is present, as a diagnosis cannot always be made by the patient's description of symptoms alone.
In this sense, virtual medical appointments are often recommended for common problems or consulting and advice. For example:
- Flu and colds
- Acne
- Urinary tract infections
- Constipation and hemorrhoids
- Sexual and reproductive health consultations
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