How to consult a doctor in the current lockdown?

This current lockdown has come up as a serious concern and has impacted life and the economy in a significant manner. While we do need to support the same, as this is the need of the hour, we are not supposed to come out of home until and unless it's an essential activity. Even in the case of an essential activity, we need to maintain social distancing as a norm.

In line with the government guidelines, in the case of a general health concern, we should limit our travel to the hospitals or nearby health facilities where there are significant chances of increasing the spread of the dreaded infection. Only in the case of emergency and other associated cases, we are supposed to visit a hospital

So what should we do if we come across a health concern or a general health inquiry around a health concern, which is not exactly a health emergency? The best way to approach this scenario is through an online consultation with a doctor.

How does this online consultation work?

In an online consultation, we may connect to our family doctor or specialist doctors through multiple online communication channels. Some of the identified channels are text communication, telecommunication and video communication through multiple available options. If you have a general inquiry that needs basic to and fro communication with your doctor, then you may go for a general text communication or telecommunication. If you have a concern that involves discussions around important physical and biochemical parameters that are present in the form of reports and investigation, then in that case, you should go ahead with video consultation.

Things to keep in mind before opting for an online consultation?

While standard norms of online consultation have been laid down by the associated councils, one needs to be ready with all the important investigation reports and other parameters document before initiating an online consultation. It is mandatory to share your detailed medical reports, lifestyle information, heredity information and other prescriptions of the last six to ten months. All the detailed documents and reports can be uploaded in the Video consulting app or Whatsapp can be used for consulting doctors for perusal. Any advice or information provided by your medical practitioner would take all these required information into consideration.

What are my online consultation options?

CIf you want to consult with your doctor from the best hospitals you may download the respective apps of these hospitals which they have developed for patient health management. Reputed hospitals like Max Healthcare hospital have launched their patient care apps such as “myHealth+” app on Playstore and “myHealth Plus” app on Appstore which may be downloaded for online consultation with the specialist doctors. Beyond this, there are multiple online affiliate platforms like practo, mfine, lybrate, docsapp and many others that provide exhaustive online consultation with specialist doctors. You just have to go online and log on to the respective app store and download a preferred app. Once you have downloaded a popular app, you may book an appointment for a convenient slot of your liking, with the doctor of your choice. If you already have a doctor, with whom you have been consulting for yourself or your family member's health concern, you may directly connect with him over multiple videos, audio and text chat applications. The most convenient for you would be credible and encrypted applications like whatsapp, google duo and skype. The security of your personal information is a very important factor that you need to keep in mind before choosing the right platform for online consultation.

Future of online consultation

While we consider this option for the current period, online consultations are here to stay and make your life more convenient by giving you the dual benefit of convenience and lesser queue time, while also ensuring complete and dedicated focus of healthcare consultation. Till the time mobility and travel continue to be significant parameters of health delivery, online consultation will help this country bridge the gap towards available and timely care which would diminish the unwanted visits to the hospital in near future.