Teleconsultation: How to deal with health problems without going to the doctor’s clinic

 

by Faith Argosino, Manila Bulletin

•       Learn more about teleconsultation or telemedicine before you actually need it

•       Many people now ‘see’ doctors and health professionals through teleconsulation to get answers on feelings of being unwell

•       Teleconsultation starts with a message sent via viber or messenger, or an email, or a query in the hospital website

•       On the appointed day, the patient will get a message to start the video call for the teleconsultation

It’s definitely the age of online relationships and transactions — commercial, personal, and medical, all because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

For medical needs, teleconsultation or telemedicine is what has kept people in touch with medical professionals in the last 21 months of the pandemic for all health problems including those not related to COVID-19.  It peaked and became quite standard procedure after the surge in COVID-19 cases came in August 2021 and hospital facilities were overwhelmed.

By today, more than half of the population must have experienced teleconsultation.  It starts with a mobile number or a web address where the patient books an appointment.  The patient pays through an online cash facility either through bank transfer or Gcash. On the appointed date and time, the patient gets a message or a call (depending on the medical professional’s procedures), and the teleconsultation begins.

It’s nothing new to the younger generation, talking to someone through a video conference app.  But it would feel quite awkward at first to older citizens who are not as technically-aware of how mobile gadgets operate.  The first time someone I knew did that, she confessed that it felt quite odd relating one’s health feelings to a doctor through a video teleconference app. The conversation is not always spontaneous because of signal transmission, so one has to allow the other to stop talking before saying more.

But those are minor lapses that people have hurdled to get solutions to health issues. Today, it is important that every person — young and old — get informed about how telemedicine works and where to get it.  It’s especially important when one begins to feel unwell with symptoms related to COVID-19 when one should immediately isolate to prevent the spread of the virus.

Here’s what you need to know about telemedicine:

Teleconsultation, telemedicine, teleconsult

Teleconsultation or telemedicine (or teleconsult as other medical organizations call it) refers to a consultation conducted via the internet. It is the delivery of health care services performed by medical professionals using information and communication technologies to exchange valid information for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of disease.

Smart gadget and internet connection

The primary things to have in order to consult a medical professional through teleconsultation are:  a smartphone that will allow video conferencing (like zoom, messenger or viber); and a good internet connection If your house has internet connection, that’s perfect.  But if not, make sure you have data to allow internet connection.

Teleconsultation

Where to get this service

The Department of Health (DOH), almost all hospitals, and many health/medical organizations offer teleconsultation.  Among them are St. Luke’s Medical Center, Makati Medical Center, and the Bayanihan E-Konsulta project of the Office of the Vice President.  It is available to COVID and non-COVID patients within Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Department of Health

The DOH COVID-19 Hotlines 1555 and (02) 894-COVID (26843) are available nationwide for all COVID-19-related concerns since last year, including consultations with volunteer doctors from the Philippine College of Physicians and the University of the East-Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMC).

Contact the DOH hotline numbers if you’re a COVID patient. The service is free.

In April this year, Vice President Leni Robredo’s office launched the Bayanihan E-Konsulta—a free teleconsultation service on Facebook—with the help of volunteer doctors and health professionals.

According to Bayanihan E-Kontulta’s social media page, the initiative was implemented to support medical frontliners and hospitals to combat the surge of COVID-19 cases. The program also aims to serve those who are unable to get medical care due to overcrowded hospitals.

 

COVID and non-COVID outpatients in Metro Manila and nearby provinces in the NCR Plus bubble are eligible for free medical service under the program. All you need to do is message the Bayanihan E-Kontulta page and click get started. They will set you an appointment with a physician who will advise your next steps.

The initiative has been handling mostly COVID-19 cases. From April 7 to 12, Robredo reported that they attended to 10,830 medical queries. By August, the initiative was serving 400 queries a day.

Aside from its free consultation services, the page also posts contact information and locations of different organizations and hospitals that offer the same service (some have fees, most are free). Until now the Bayanihan E-Konsulta page is still active and accepts any type of medical queries. For emergency purposes, patients are advised to call the program’s contact numbers at 0919 977 3333, 0915 777 7777, or (02) 8865-0500.

St. Luke’s Medical Center

St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) offers teleconsultation services for COVID and non-COVID patients. They provide step-by-step guidelines on their website on how to get that service, including the modes of payment.

According to the guideline, a patient should call either the Global City or Quezon City hotline of St. Luke’s. An officer will take the call and help one book an appointment with a doctor. The caller will be required to provide personal details such as full name, date of birth, contact number, email address, preferred doctor, preferred date and time of appointment, and reason for teleconsultation.

The struggle to be immaculate

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THE Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed

Virgin Mary, celebrated annually on December 8, reminds us of that

most wonderful truth of our faith that we all are actually meant to be

immaculate, that is, sinless, completely holy which means we are truly

and entirely identified with Christ who is holiness himself.

          Yes, we may not be conceived immaculate like what the

Blessed Virgin Mary enjoyed as a divine privilege given to her, but we

should strive, with God’s grace, to be sinless, always fighting

against sin and against anything that can lead us to sin. In a sense,

we have to develop a zeal to be immaculate, like Our Lady, which

definitely would involve constant struggle against sin and

temptations.

          That may be an impossible pursuit, since we all know that we

are all sinners, but it should not prevent us from doing our best to

struggle to be as sinless as possible. In this regard, we should never

forget to develop and strengthen our personal skills in handling

temptations. This concern never goes passé, and it touches a basic,

indispensable aspect of our life in all levels.

          These days, temptations can come to us in the subtlest and

trickiest of ways. This can be due, at least in part, to the increased

level of sophistication both in people’s thinking and in world

developments, especially in the area of technology and ideology.

          With these developments, temptations can easily come

undetected, and sin can be committed in a most hidden way and can even

be easily rationalized. How important therefore it is for us to always

grow in humility and simplicity, aggressively finding practical ways

to achieve them! If not, we would just be lost.

          As can be easily noted these days, the healthy fear of God

is disappearing. In its place, a most heinous sense of self-importance

is dominating. The criteria to determine what is good and bad have

become blurred. They have gone almost completely relativistic and

subjective, declaring total independence from any absolute and

objective rule or law that comes from God.

          Truth is, we always need God in our battle against

temptations. We should disabuse ourselves from the thought that with

our good intentions and our best efforts alone, we can manage to tame

the urges of temptations.

          We cannot! That’s the naked truth about it. We only can if

we are with God. And we have to be with him in a strong, determined

way, not in a passive or lukewarm way. Do flies flock on a hot soup?

No. But they do on a cold or lukewarm soup.

          We need to do everything to be with God. Our mind and heart

should be fully and constantly engaged with him. We always have reason

to do so—at least, we can thank him for what we are having at the

moment: health, food, air, work, etc.

          And to be with God can mean that we have to be actively

involved in the lives of others, since our relation with God always

passes through our relation with others. The more we get involved in

the lives of others, knowing them well, praying for them, helping them

in any we can, etc., the more we get to be with God. And the more we

are with God, the stronger we become to resist sin and temptations.

This is the way toward the ideal of becoming immaculate like our

Mother Mary.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com