Healthcare technology and digital medicine - your doctor in your pocket
Medicine has changed drastically over the 50 years of our Scheme’s existence and we are expecting a lot of movement in healthcare technology in the next couple of years. It was not even a year ago that we anticipated in MediBrief (July edition) that "healthcare will change and might even be disrupted by technology, just as the taxi industry experienced with the introduction of Uber".
Virtual consultations in South Africa
Within the last couple of months, South Africa has seen the launch of virtual consultations. Virtual consultations are consultations with your doctor being at a different location, facilitated through technology such as messaging or video services.
Many doctors already answer their patients’ SMSes, whatsapps, emails or skype calls, but the need was identified to have secure solutions where all information, photos and files are stored in one – rather than five different apps on a doctor’s device – to protect their patients’ personal and health information.
Time and money saved
One of these solutions is the app ‘Medici’, developed by a South African chiropractor in the USA, where you can consult with all your doctors via text, voice or videochat. Another app you might have heard of is DrConnect, which the administrator Discovery Health (Pty) Ltd launched for members of the Discovery Health Medical Scheme in collaboration with Silicon Valley-based Healthtap. Patients can consult with their doctors from the comfort of their homes, or anywhere in the country. Both apps bill the user after the consultation and the account can be paid from available out of hospital benefits.
Virtual consultations can also be offered in an existing clinical setting like in the case of Medicare pharmacy clinics. These clinics already offer nurse services, but have now been extended with videomed facilities to bring a doctor into the consultation. The way this differs from the apps is that the nurse can do medical examinations, for example, through the use of camera-enabled equipment, to assist the doctor in diagnosing the patient. The doctor can then send a prescription to the pharmacy counter and the patient could have diagnosis, therapy and treatment recommendations as well as necessary medicine within less than an hour.
Virtual consultations could be helpful for patients in rural areas, patients that are not mobile, or patients needing advice during times where their doctor’s rooms are closed. They are of course not the answer to every healthcare question either; they have their pitfalls, too. Not all consultations can be done virtually – there will always be the need to see your doctor face to face – but in some instances a physical visit is not always needed and this is where virtual consultations might fill a gap in South Africa’s healthcare environment.
With any of these solutions, consultations cost less than a regular face-to-face consultation and will reduce the length of time needed for a diagnosis and treatment.
Added benefits
Some healthcare questions could be answered without consulting your own doctor. DrConnect offers over 5 billion doctor-created answers in an online library and/or alternatively a personalised answer from any participating doctor. DrConnect allows users to set their own health goals in the app and to benefit from doctor-created tips on how to achieve them. With Medicare’s offering taking place at a clinic, the pathology lab and dispensary are onsite, meaning that you really do get an all-in-one service. The Medici app provides access to all your participating doctors in one app, from your GP or paediatrician to your therapist or even your vet.
We think this is exciting new technology with enormous potential and while we are watching the market and how patients are accepting these services, we are exploring how we can adapt and consider virtual consultations for the Scheme.
Send us your comments! Have you used any of these or other services? How do you feel about them? Email the Scheme’s Communication Manager