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Posted on 1 March 2021

Telehealth empowers new and follow-up patients to connect with their preferred healthcare professionals through video calls and over the phone. Remote consultations are convenient, cost-effective, clinically safe, and best of all, here to stay.

Anyone who suffers from a chronic medical condition understands the value and necessity of access to ongoing, regular care – and how easy it is for that treatment journey to become interrupted over the course of a lifetime.

Telehealth can help.

When the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) published updated legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic, it clarified how, when and why doctors may conduct consultations remotely. When that happened, Mediclinic and its subsidiaries were ready, equipped and prepared to offer patients a new format of expert care. One of those subsidiaries is Intercare,
a group of primary health specialist facilities.

“Access to healthcare from a remote setting is vital, and something that has been lacking in South Africa for some time,” says Hendri Hanekom, Group Executive: Strategy & Innovation at the Intercare Group. “We had been planning a telehealth service by testing various platforms and fine-tuning the processes and protocols around this technology. So when the regulations were released, we were ready and waiting to launch our virtual consultations service to the public.”

WHAT IS TELEMEDICINE?

A virtual consultation is a remote video conversation between a patient and a healthcare professional, giving patients the opportunity to receive care without a trip to the doctor’s office. While a phone or video conversation cannot replace an in-person examination, it can supplement those face-to-face meetings and give patients easy and efficient access to their specialist.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS?

Anyone living with a chronic illness or who is immunocompromised, pregnant, elderly, living in a rural area or disabled may benefit from speaking to their doctor remotely. Patients with mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, ADHD or anxiety, which need regular and ongoing specialist management, may also find it useful to conduct these therapy sessions from home.

WHEN DOES IT WORK BEST?

If you want to check in with a doctor to discuss concerning symptoms, live upcountry and could benefit from speaking regularly to your specialist at a centre of excellence in another province, or you require ongoing treatment or check-ups. In these situations you can use remote consultations to keep in regular contact with your physician without leaving home. Telemedicine offers new answers to age-old obstacles to expert healthcare.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS?

While a phone or video conversation cannot replace an in-person examination, it can supplement those face-to-face meetings and give patients easy and efficient access to their specialist.

If your condition makes it difficult or inconvenient to see a doctor in person as regularly as you’d like, telehealth is a mechanism that facilitates appropriate expert care and enhances the relationship between you and your doctor.

By improving access, virtual consultations can make it easier for people to access preventative care and improve their long-term health. Today, you can enjoy uninterrupted access to your specialist from anywhere, at any time.

“In the course of a patient’s treatment journey, their record may incorporate in-person examinations and recordings of remote consultations,” says Hanekom. “In this way, we create a holistic and centralised overview of a patient and their treatment.”

Speak to your doctor today about whether they offer virtual consultation services.