TELEMEDICINE USES IN GYNECOLOGY

Telemedicine has been around since the 1960s and has received more acceptance with each passing year. This COVID-19 pandemic has however led to the commencement of a new telemedicine era, making it the future of healthcare.

Indian surveys show that

‘Over 50% of Indian women are not sure if they need to visit a gynaecologist even when they have any symptoms or issues and almost 95% of women in some cities have never visited a gynecologist’

Feminism in India

These shocking statistics can be explained by factors such as ignorance of health and diseases, societal pressures, and taboo of women visiting a gynecologist especially before marriage and feeling ashamed or shy to visit a gynecologist due to lack of education or exposure.

With the introduction of telemedicine, there has been a steep rise in the percentage of women seeking gynecologist opinions from the comfort and security of their homes. This is a promising trend that will encourage physical visits and general awareness substantially among these women.

Some of the areas of gynecology where telemedicine proves to be the most useful are in:

• Spreading awareness and clearing doubts pre and post-pregnancy

• Identifying, managing and preventing postpartum depression
• Routine reviews in pregnant, lactating mothers who need constant support and assistance
• Women in premenopause or postmenopause who need support to manage their symptoms

• Review of blood investigation reports
• Planning of pregnancy
• Planning IVF treatments
• Pre or post-surgical assistance and management
• Review of medications
• Managing pregnancy-induced diabetes or hypertension by constant monitoring and advice on lifestyle changes
• Advice on sensitive topics such as intercourse, unplanned pregnancies, abortions, etc.

As seen above, telemedicine and teleconsultation can be a perfect way to make gynecological advice and expertise easily available to women from all walks of life.

This could be a stepping stone that paves the way for the generalised acceptance of these issues in the society and also help more women get access to these essential healthcare services.

Register with Curie- India’s premier teleconsultation platform and provide your services to the public if you are a Gynecologist.

If you are looking for an appointment, search for a specialist near you on the Curie app! Contact https://curie.health or call +91-8778826667 for more info or to get a free TRIAL/DEMO.

Clinical practice- who generates more income? The new or the old patients?

A survey conducted in developed countries show that around 90% of your clinical practice clientele are old patients while only 10% or lesser is comprised of new patients.

Keeping in mind that clinics or doctors end up spending out of their pocket to obtain ‘New patients’, statistics actually goes to show that retaining old patients, improving their satisfaction and encouraging them to come back to you is always smarter and more cost effective!

Let us see compare the above two categories

Criteria	Existing Patients	New patients
Percentage	Up to 90% of clientele	Upto 10% of total clientele
Costs incurred	No financial investment	Needs financial investment
Emotional Quotient with the doctor/clinic	High	Low
Reliance on the Doctor	Present	Yet to be established
Knowledge of the doctor’s abilities	Present	Absent
Satisfaction	Easy to achieve	Takes time, money and effort
Referring new patients	High chances	Low chances

From the above, it can clearly be concluded that focusing on existing patient satisfaction is equally or infact, even more important that shifting all focus on new patients.

Paying your software provider or any online or offline third party to bring patients is therefore not the best idea. The cost of obtaining a new patient is this case might far outweigh the revenue generated by these patients on the long run.

Importance of referrals

The most effective way to get more clientele still remains to be by ‘Word of Mouth’. An existing patient who is satisfied by your services will definitely refer his or her friends and relatives to you.

In this process, there are no extra costs incurred. You also get to strengthen bonds with an existing patient while sowing the seed to a possible future referral from this patient.

How you can achieve the perfect blend of old and new patients:

• Strive to provide quality of services to increase satisfaction
• Encourage referrals
• Get feedbacks
• Always trace the source of a referral
• Constantly stay in touch with patients by regular messages, emails, appointment reminders, review calls, etc.
• Do not go for expensive third parties for new patient referrals
• Focus on online and offline marketing
• Digitalise your practice
• Choose the right IT partner for the practice
• Improvise as need changes. E.g: COVID-19 has stressed the need to switch to telemedicine to keep in touch with patients. Make sure your practice is online.

Some of these above ideas are best executed by a professional IT partner like CURIE! You can trust us to provide you with the perfect set up, analytics and platform to enable optimum clientele building and retaining.

Contact : https://curie.health or +91-8778826667

DIGITAL MARKETING AND ITS USE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

Recent studies have shown that up to 80% of the people in urban areas search for information on a treatment/procedure, doctor, or clinic/hospital ONLINE before choosing one. This shows the increasing importance of digital marketing in healthcare.

With the availability of free and vast information on the internet, patients these days want to make informed choices and choose the best service provider available. This is no different for doctors or their clinics. Attracting new patients and engaging the existing ones nowadays prove to be a difficult task without the acceptance of digitalisation and digital marketing.

Few approaches to improve social media presence and increase your brand value include:

Website creation

This is a primary need for initiating digital marketing. Creating a user-friendly, informative site can boost your brand name significantly.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO):

All of us usually tend to register the first few options that are displayed to us when we search for something on Google or other search engines. This includes the publication of social media posts that encompass the topics of popular public interest in your chosen field.

Publication of reviews, patient feedback, and testimonials go a long way in creating an impact and attracting new clientele.

Social media presence:

With more people using social media daily, the need to show some presence in these sites becomes a prime player in the service industry. In healthcare, posting informative content to spread awareness and improve public health, in general, can attract a lot of following and give you and your clinic the necessary marketing.

Presently, paid partnerships have proven to be one of the most successful ways to get noticed when done with adequate research.

Personalised content:

Using SMSs, emails, and messages on apps like Whatsapp to provide personalised information or reminders of appointments, offers, new additions to the clinic, etc. increase the loyalty of existing patients. It also improves communication and facilitates a way to get more patients or contact through positive referrals.

Constantly upgrade your strategy:

The best part of digital marketing is the ability to look at figures and statistics. This helps in the evidence-based analysis of different parameters and a chance to keep evolving as new trends emerge.

If a particular post, video, message, or topic is garnering more interest and approval from the viewers, the best strategy would be to post more information and content on these topics.

Therefore, due to the versatility and widespread success of these digital marketing strategies, failure to engage in these might not be useful for your practice. Adequate research on trending topics, identifying the target audience, creating a good website, sharing useful content, and engaging with your audience are the ultimate ways to achieve digital marketing success in your clinical practice.

Doctors however understandably focus on achieving clinical excellence and do not always have the time or expertise to engage in other technical aspects such as digital marketing. This is where an IT partner like Curie comes into play. Our digital marketing experts know exactly how to give you that push you need online and get your brand noticed by more viewers.

For more info or to avail a free demo/trial,  log on to https://curie.health / or call on  +91-87788 26667

Why switch to tele-consultations

COVID-19 has taught us many things. One of the most important of these lessons is ‘Adaptability’. With growing concerns to maintain social distancing even as lockdowns are easing, it is solely our collective responsibility to find effective ways of returning to normalcy while following the new rules.

Visiting a hospital or a clinic at these times might not be the best option for a lot of us as this would mean an unnecessary risk of exposure to infection. Therefore, switching to online consultations with a doctor would be the best way forward for a lot of simple reasons.

Why does Teleconsulttion work?  Most doctors diagnose and start treatment for basic symptoms with the help of the patient’s history. Telemedicine allows this history taking efficiently. When is telemedicine most helpful?

• When you want to consult your regular doctor who already knows your medical history.
• When you are at a place where a specific specialist is unavailable and you want to consult them from where you are.
• When you do not have a major illness or symptom that needs emergency care.
• Follow up visits of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, psychiatry issues, high cholesterol, etc.
• Queries regarding menstruation, pregnancy, or hormones for females who find it difficult to visit a gynecologist due to societal pressures.
• Mental-health related queries and counseling with a psychiatrist or psychologist.
• Old aged individuals who cannot easily visit a doctor.
• Immuno-compromised patients with simple queries or mild symptoms
• Consultations regarding dental pain, cosmetic dental procedures, or issues about your child’s teeth.
• Review or follow up visits that do not need your physical presence.
• To obtain repeat prescriptions for long standing health issue like hypothyroidism.
• Dermatological issues that do not need physical examinations
• Advice regarding nutrition, diet and physical activity
• Specialist opinions that were advised by a general physician
• Interpretation of radiological investigations such as X-Rays.
• Advice regarding testing for COVID-19 or doubts regarding your symptoms
• Consultations for elective procedures such as plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, etc.
• Mild symptoms such as fever, body pains, etc.
• Physiotherapy appointments where the patient is able to do things for themselves.

Above are some of the common reasons for which telemedicine works wonders. If you fall into any of the above categories or would like to know more, download the Cuire app to book an online doctor consultation or call on +91-87788 26667.

What happens if you suspect a COVID-19 infection and post a COVID-19 diagnosis?

A diagnosis with COVID-19 can be daunting and difficult to accept. However, with a global mortality rate of less than 3% and over 80% of those with the infection being asymptomatic, it is best for one to stay positive and focus on the recovery.

Once we develop symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, fever, sore throat, loss of taste or smell , headache or body pain; it is best to contact the helpline number. In India, the ‘1075’ number is the toll- free helpline number for COVID-19.

After assessing your symptoms and history through the call, you would either be required to self-quarantine at home until further symptoms develop or visit one of the government approved COVID-19 testing centres.

At the test centre, a doctor evaluates your symptoms and history and approves the test to be conducted if needed. A quick, 5-10 minute PCR test is conducted and this involves a painless throat swab. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, additional tests such as blood investigations or radiological investigations such as a CT chest/abdomen maybe taken.

Once your test results are revealed, (some tests take up to 2-3 days and self-quarantine, hospitalisation or institutional quarantine is advised during this waiting period depending on severity of symptoms) you would be informed confidentially about the results.

Mild cases:

If one does not show any symptoms or shows very mild symptoms and there are no co-morbidities or risk factors (such as diabetes, hypertension, cardia disease, old age, immunosuppression, etc.) , the person is advised to self quarantine at home.

Self quarantine at home:

• A person suspected with this infection or is tested positive, should stay in a separate, well ventilated room with adequate facilities such as a toilet and access to the phone in case of emergencies.

• Avoid using an air conditioner to prevent spread of infection to others in the house.
• One main care giver should be appointed to take responsibility to provide the necessary needs for this person with protective equipment such as gloves and mask.

• The infected person should always wear a surgical mask and change to a new mask every 5-6 hours.
• Hand washing and sanitizing should be practiced frequently.
• Adequate water should be consumed and nutrient rich food should be taken to build immunity.
• medications as prescribed by the doctor should be followed.
• In Tamil Nadu, the government provides COVID-19 positive patients with additional vitamin supplements and ‘Kabasura Kudineer’ that should be taken to improve immunity and reduce worsening of the disease.
• minimum contact with other family members should be maintained at all times and movement outside the room should be restricted.
• The house should be cleaned with bleach at least once a week and metallic surfaces should be cleaned using alcohol.
• symptoms should be monitored closely, communication with treating doctor should be maintained and immediate medical assistance needs to be sought if symptoms worsen.

Moderate cases:

these patients are quarantined in a government facility. Rules to be followed are very similar to those followed at home quarantine with additional support and help from healthcare professionals. Medications and food will be as supplied by the institutional authorities.

Severe cases:

These patients are hospitalized and treatment is given by doctors and other helathcare professionals in the hospital. Constant monitoring of vitals and supportive medication and drugs are prescribed until recovery.

Once a patient is infected, strict quarantine measures and treatment regimens are followed until the patient tests negative for COVID-19 in two consecutive PCR tests in a 24-hour duration.

Patients are advised to follow social distancing for a maximum of 14 days following a recovery.

From the above, it is evident that though COVID-19 is a potentially fatal disease, the symptoms are not always severe and with the right treatment and support, a patient can recover completely. Also, research so far suggests that a patient who has been infected with COVID-19 will most likely not be re-infected with this virus.

It is important to understand that all COVID-19 positive patients do not need to be hospitalized. This is to avoid overcrowding at hospitals, reduce chances of re infection or cross infection and most importantly, reserve the essential medical supplies to critically ill patients who need it.

Therefore, anyone having symptoms or worried about their health need to consult a doctor before getting tested. Patients in home quarantine also need to be in touch with a doctor periodically to discuss symptoms and recovery. For these instances, telemedicine is of major importance and one can consult a doctor from anywhere , at anytime!

Curie is a one of a kind telemedicine platform and acts as the best place to consult a doctor online during these times. Download the Curie app

Living with the coronavirus pandemic

The world as it is today has survived many calamities in the past. This includes historical pandemics such as the Spanish flu and the Ebola virus. To think that ‘COVID-19’ might be the end of the world is just incongruous. The thoughts that the coronavirus should rather instill in you are those of resilience and a healthy caution. After all, Charles Darwin once said nature is sustained by the concept of ‘Survival of the Fittest’. Therefore, beating the coronavirus and continuing to strive will be our test of endurance.

In a few weeks, nations will be forced to lift the ongoing lockdowns due to economic and developmental needs. Despite the ongoing prevalence of the coronavirus among the population, this move will be inevitable. Our next goal, therefore, is to find out the best ways of ‘Survival’.

So what can we do to protect ourselves?

• Infection control: We have heard this over and over again. Washing and sanitizing hands regularly, wearing a face mask or covering, not touching your face unnecessarily, etc. Have been widely recommended.

• Stay at least a meter away from others. This can be difficult especially in overcrowded public transports. The government is looking into what can be done to reduce this risk.

• Avoid unnecessary travel within or outside the country.

• Consider shopping online. This is the future of the service industry to avoid crowding at shops or malls.

• Prefer having home-cooked meals or order food to your home if needed.

• Support small businesses and local vendors by buying from them.

• Work from home whenever possible. Crowding of offices poses a huge risk. For those who need to go to work, employers can organize them into different shifts to ensure lower contact and lesser crowding.

• Build immunity: eating vitamin-rich foods, probiotics, drinking adequate water, and sleeping for 7-8 hours contribute to a better immune system.

• Be aware of the symptoms for the coronavirus and make sure to seek medical attention if you experience any of them.

• Avoid visiting a clinic or a hospital unless necessary. Opinions and queries can now be done online via telemedicine.

Curie is the pioneer of telemedicine in India. This virtual consultation tool is one of a kind and is gaining immense popularity every day. Download the curie app and connect from anywhere, at any time with a doctor/dentist or medical professional.

To know more about this platform, download the curie app or visit https://curie.health/ or call on +91-87788 26667 to know more about us.

Teledentistry

Teledentistry- The paradigm shift

A lot of dentists are still hesitant to make a move towards the digitalization of their clinical practice. However, the increasing importance and use of teledentistry is encouraging and shows a lot of promise to develop the field of dentistry. It has shown a significant use in networking, consultations, dental records sharing, and aiding in para clinical procedures.

Teledentistry has similar advantages such as 

• Reduced costs for both the patient and the dentist
• Time-saving
• Ability to connect with any specific dentist or any specialist in a particular field irrespective of time zones or locations. This is especially useful when the patient lives far from the dentist or is in a location where such experts are not present.
• Documented / recorded consultations
• Privacy and comfort of home 
• Reduced risk of exposure to infections
• Avoiding repeated, unnecessary trips to the dentist
• Providing a comfortable environment for kids who need dental consultations.

Practicing teledentistry would involve the use of the internet, computers, and mobile phones. In addition to these, some already available computerized systems that involve teledentistry are:

• OralCdx- Where oral lesions are imaged and biopsies can be digitally analyzed. An oral pathologist can then use teledentistry to obtain these records and give you an opinion without having to be physically present.

• Digital radiographs: Any oral radiographs can be sent to your dentist using teledentistry to get an opinion and suggest further treatment. 

• Specialist digital opinions: In the case of a diagnosis or procedure requiring an opinion from a specialist who is not available in the clinic, sending the dental records and photographs digitally and obtaining an opinion is easy and convenient. Such advice is also already documented and avoids any additional efforts taken to physically store these data.

• CAD/CAM systems: in the event, a prosthesis needs to be planned, expert opinion can be obtained to determine esthetics, clear procedural doubts, design 3D models, and share digital records between the dental lab, specialist, and the dentist.

• Clinical management using digital methods: Fixing appointments, video consultations, text queries, reminders about appointments or reviews, sharing of useful dental tips and dental clinic offers, etc. It can be achieved with ease.

• Digital payments: Clinics can tie up with third party financing institutions and banks to ensure easy and quick payments. The facility to pay dental costs in installments can also be given when the clinics are in tie-up with the relevant companies.

• Digital consultations and review: Often, patients have basic queries that do not need a complete dental examination at the dental clinic. These patients can be consulted via teledentistry and appointment can be given just for the actual procedure if needed. Similarly, a dental patient would require a dental review visit after most procedures. These reviews can be carried out using teledentistry in the absence of any symptoms. 

• Dental education and awareness can be passed on to children and their parents, elderly adults, or those with disabilities using teledentistry. Pre and post-procedural instructions can also be given in this way and would also ease apprehensive patients before the dental visit.

• Continued dental education can be achieved by organizing and attending seminars or e-conferences using teledentistry.

Therefore, dentists have several reasons why they should consider using a teledentistry platform such as curie.health. Curie health helps in assisting you with setting up a flawless teledentistry platform, that is user friendly and affordable.