Virtual tour for the physician may be effective as physical examination: -To communicate with doctors through live-chats or videos for patients, the growing breed of health-tech startup building platform can take a new study that demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.
According to Science Daily, Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) claim that virtual video visits can successfully change office visits without compromising on patients’ care and quality of communication.
Virtual tour for the physician may be effective as physical examination
Virtual Video Visitors use a secure application on a computer or tablet to enable patients to chat with patients or health professionals. The MGH TeleHealth program started offering virtual video tours in early 2013. In the study, 254 patients and 61 physicians were surveyed.
“Some of the children participating in our study were parents who needed frequent visits or older patients who were difficult to travel,” said Karen Donelan, scientist and prominent writer of MGH-affiliated Mongan Institute Health Policy Center. The paper that was published online. Virtual tour for the physician may be effective as physical examination.
“We were not surprised that they found virtual tours more convenient, but we were impressed that the quality of care or communication was considered almost identical or better than visits to the traditional or familiar office.”They said.
Studies showed that 62% of the participating patients felt that the quality of checkup was equivalent to office trips, while 21% believed that it was actually better. In reference to health professionals participating in the study, the number was 59% and 25%, respectively.
The study found that 79% of patients participating in the program felt that finding a convenient time for a follow-up virtual video trip was easy in a traditional office visit.
Doctors also said that virtual appointments for patient appointments (70.5% ) and travel efficiency (52.5% ) are better than visits to the office.
However, many physicians warned that virtual tour may not be suitable for all patients and for every situation.
“Those who evaluated visits were very worried about technical issues, they experienced the first use of the system, those issues were usually solved with the help of technical assistance during the journey.”
