With the suspension of OPD (out patient department) services in private hospitals across Mangaluru, the private hospitals have launched telemedicine via WhatsApp to guide patients and live consultations using the Facebook page.
In order to ensure the safety of the citizens, doctors in Yenepoya Medical College Hospital have come forward to offer their services over the telephone. This will help avoid unnecessary travel to the hospital and people who are ill may benefit with initial consultation over the telephone.
Justice K S Hegde Charitable Hospital also launched a telemedicine clinic in a big way. Patients need to indicate the symptoms of their disease through WhatsApp to the doctors concerned. They also have to provide their name, age, sex, weight, information about the disease, and copies of earlier prescriptions if any.
After going through the details, the doctors will speak to the patients over the phone. They will either prescribe the medicines or share their opinions. Their observations are recorded in a slip containing the doctor’s registration number, which is sent to the WhatsApp number of the patients, who can then purchase medicines from a nearby medical store.
Dr Padmanabha Kamath, Interventional Cardiologist and HoD of Cardiology Department, KMC Hospital in Mangaluru, said, “We have decided to launch an online clinic with live consultation using the Facebook
page.”
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