There’s been hardly any field that didn’t find itself gradually shifting towards an online platform amidst the ongoing digital revolution. Whether it be the education sector or the business corporate, all of them dealt with issues like high logistic costs, scarcity of space, and the unwillingness of individuals for a physical presence. The consult doctor online option showed the right way to eliminate some of these problems in the healthcare sector.
Persistent Challenges In The Pre-Online Consultation Era
Coming to the medical consultation sector, let us have a look at some of the prolonged challenges that the patients had to face whenever they tried to consult a doctor or visit a hospital:
- Unavailability of schedules due to many appointments
- Lack of time because of the hectic work and family schedule
- Considerable distance or lack of transportation to the doctor’s clinic
- No assurance of availability of doctors on the scheduled time
- Multiple visits required for booking appointment, consultation, lab test report submissions, etc
- High cost of in-person consultations
- Awkwardness in meeting doctors for some specific ailments
When we look at the future of a particular field, we hope that all the existing challenges will get addressed by suitable solutions. When we look at the features that the online doctor appointment and consultation apps provide, we can confidently state that online doctor consultations are the future of the Indian medical sector.
Online Consultations Are Shaping The Future
We have already mentioned the challenges faced by patients in the pre-online consultation era. Now, we will try to understand how the online consultation apps will positively change the scenario by addressing those challenges focusing on the Indian market.
1. Wider Availability
All Indian cities aren’t populated likely. Therefore, the ratio of the number of people living in the region and the number of doctors in the area also varies greatly, leading to the doctors’ unavailability.
Through online consultation apps, the distance between boundaries no longer exists, and it is very much possible for a person sitting in Kerala to consult a doctor online from Delhi. It has eradicated the unavailability challenge and has given the patients a large pool of doctors to select from to seek treatment.
2. Comfortable Timings
Many online consultation apps provide the option for 24×7 interaction with doctors, so patients no longer have to take out time separately from their busy schedules to visit a doctor.
3. Transportation Issue Resolved
People in rural areas had to largely depend on public transports to visit the doctors in cities, and they also had to pay for their transportation. As easy as it may get, distance is no longer a problem, whether your doctor is 100 meters away or 100 kilometres away.
4. No Turning Away Anymore
The medical profession involves emergencies, and doctors can’t always keep up with their schedule. However, in the online consultation apps, patients get the option to schedule and reschedule their online doctor appointment without losing any money.
Also, such platforms provide an option to the patients to change their doctor in case of unavailability.
5. No Awkwardness
Indian society is conservative, and it is common for people to feel awkward while consulting a doctor regarding specific medical issues involving sexual health or reproductive health. Visiting a sexologist is still considered taboo in many societies.
However, online consultation apps provide full-proof privacy, and you can quickly contact a doctor of any specialisation without thinking about anything.
6. COVID-19 Factor
The current pandemic saw flooding of hospitals with infected patients. Moreover, it also became difficult for other patients to visit those hospitals due to the fear of infection spread.
Virtual consultation apps again proved to be a saviour, and people can now avail of medical services and consult a doctor online without visiting hospitals and clinics.
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What Makes Them Future-Ready?
If we look at the features of the online consultation apps, we know that they are not just limited to an online doctor appointment, but they have a lot more to provide.
For example, they offer telemedicine, doorstep test sample collection, medical history storage, digital prescriptions, health insurance options, EMI cards like the one by Bajaj Finserv Health, and other attractive deals.
The fast-paced society is always looking forward to a central place for all related activities, and these consultation apps serve like shopping malls for medical services.
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Conclusion
Just a decade ago, when people were getting familiar with digital hardware, tech experts had already predicted that online services would be the next big thing. We are looking at the offspring of those initial developments in the field, ready to answer all the previous challenges.
While the medical consultation apps are still in their primary stage, we can expect them to expand their outreach in a short period ahead. Therefore, we can indeed say that they hold the key to the future of the Indian medical sector.