The "Evening Show of Slavi" with Ivan Yosifov, manager of "Naicoms", discusses telemedicine in Bulgaria and the possibilities of the teleconsultation platform Medcare.bg and we are happy to share some additions to the highlights of the interview:
What is Telemedicine?
The broad definition reveals that telemedicine is an open and ever-changing science that incorporates a number of new possibilities by responding to and adapting to advances in healthcare and societal specifications.
Why it is important for people to know more about telemedicine?
Because through it they can get help, make their lives easier and take care of themselves and their loved ones. Everyone says that this is the future and the future is here and now. Technology exists, created by humans, for us humans. Telemedicine will sooner or later enter our lives, as social media, mobile phones and others are now widely used. Telemedicine may sound frighteningly distant as a term still, but it is in fact a medical consultation from a distance.
What the Medcare platform looks like, who it is aimed to, how it works?
It is aimed for the person - doctor and patient.
The convenience it offers at:
- screening for infectious disease (or COVID-19), especially in the current situation;
- very remote areas without medical coverage
- facilitates access to professionals who are concentrated mainly in large cities;
- chronically ill patients;
- disabled patients;
- in adults or young children - for everyone;
- people of active age often do not find time for a doctor because they have to be away from work for a long time, so telemedicine is fully applicable and even necessary in big cities.
- in secondary consultation, to follow up treatment
- for a secondary opinion
- for a guiding consultation before a physical examination
Yes, physical examination and contact with the patient are indispensable. However, telemedicine is the next best solution, and in the current pandemic situation, the only one, literally saving lives, protecting both doctor and patient from possible infections while traveling or from the meeting between the two.