Modern telecommunication technologies have firmly entered all spheres of life: the Internet, digital television, instant data transmission have become part of our daily functioning. Medicine has also adopted modern capabilities for transmitting information, resulting in the emergence of such a concept as telemedicine.
Telemedicine is remote consultation with a medical specialist to assess the patient’s condition, study medical documents, assess the correctness of the prescribed treatment, manage and monitor the patient. Nowadays, technology allows you not to make an appointment or wait for the appointed date, but to contact a doctor and get a consultation without leaving your home.
Today, telemedicine is one of the most promising and rapidly developing areas of medicine. In fact, telemedicine services can be divided into the following types:
1. Consultative telemedicine. This is a type of medical care when the patient has the opportunity to receive online consultation on an issue of interest to him. This also includes:
• carrying out express diagnostics through telemedicine. This refers to cases where the patient could perform certain tests or imaging studies before the consultation. The data is provided to one or more doctors, and they, based on the data obtained, make an accurate diagnosis and make recommendations for further treatment and monitoring;
• correction of drug treatment. The specialist can, based on the observed symptoms, the general condition of the patient, and study of previously recommended pharmacotherapy regimens, adjust the treatment;
• therapy. Based on the examinations performed and the existing diagnosis, the doctor treats and monitors the patient (in psychiatry, psychotherapy and observation of the effects of pharmacotherapy by a psychiatrist can be carried out remotely).
2. Prehospital telemedicine. This includes situations where patients are in dire need of medical care and support, but do not have a realistic opportunity to receive it right away. Within the framework of psychiatric and drug treatment practice, these may be the following situations:
• development of psychosis. This is an acute condition and symptoms of psychosis include delusions, hallucinations, and confusion. Psychosis can manifest itself in a variety of cases - in a young mother in the postpartum period, in a man dependent on alcohol, in an elderly patient suffering from dementia. Psychosis is fraught with the fact that the patient can harm the health and life of both his loved ones and his own. Usually in such cases hospitalization is necessary. Often people, having seen the strange behavior of their loved one, do not know what to do. And in such situations, telemedicine is simply necessary - the doctor will evaluate the symptoms and also give recommendations on further actions, therapy and observation;
• exacerbation of chronic diseases. As a rule, this happens in spring and autumn. Patients suffering from schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and depression are especially susceptible to exacerbations. A high-quality telemedicine consultation will allow you to build a certain course of action and develop a treatment strategy;
• teleconsultation. If the doctor or patient doubts the diagnosis, you can hold a teleconsultation with several specialists, make an accurate diagnosis and give treatment;
• manifestation of phobias, panic attacks. If anyone has ever experienced a panic attack, they know how scary it can be during the process, because the main symptoms are tachycardia, sweating, fear of death, chest pain, shortness of breath and other unpleasant symptoms. By contacting a doctor via telemedicine, you can tell him about your condition, get advice and get help. In the future, you can continue remote treatment with a psychotherapist.
As you can see, the main directions and types of telemedicine are aimed at providing feasible assistance in situations where a personal meeting between a doctor and a patient is impossible for some reason.
The undoubted advantages of telemedicine include the ability to receive online communication with the right specialist in the shortest possible time. The following can count on timely assistance:
• patients who are in critical condition;
• patients with chronic diseases;
• patients who do not respond to drug therapy;
• patients who required specialist consultation due to deterioration in health;
• young parents who fear for the health of their children;
• people who fear for the health of their loved ones.
Telemedicine is especially suitable for those who are unable to visit specialists in person. Agree, a face-to-face consultation with a doctor requires some preparation, and often financial expenses (for example, a flight to Israel), whereas allocating 45-60 minutes for a video call with the right doctor is much easier and more comfortable .
Unfortunately, not all our patients have the opportunity to come to Israel to visit the clinic in person. Based on the situation, we try to help in other available ways, and online telemedicine is one of the most popular methods of video communication.
How does it work?
1. You contact our doctors with a request for a remote consultation via email [email protected], by calling the phone number published on our website or by writing to us on WhatsApp, Telegram or Viber. It is better if all medical documents are attached at once.
2. Our doctors study the information sent, and if a certain analysis or test is missing, we ask you to take it and then provide us with the results for review.
3. Next, we will contact you to determine the date of the video call; you will be able to choose a time and method of communication that is convenient for you.
Depending on the specific case, our specialists can offer a one-time Zoom consultation or several consultations over 1-1.5 months for diagnosis, treatment selection and necessary monitoring. Depending on the goals and objectives, we calculate the cost of consultations.
For example, a consultation to assess the patient's condition and receive treatment recommendations (you receive a Zoom consultation report by email) costs from $480 or more depending on the goals of the consultation, the psychiatrist or other specialist, the clinical picture, and other factors.
Another example of the cost of several consultations with a psychiatrist as part of a course of diagnosis and treatment to assess well-being for endogenous disorders, as well as medication selection and follow-up is $2,950.
Psychotherapy costs between $100 and $300 per session, depending on the methodology - the sessions are conducted by a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and the process is supervised by a psychiatrist.
If you need our help, contact us by phone, describe the problem, and very soon you will receive medical support and counseling!