There is no doubt that personal contact with the patient is fundamental for diagnostic activities and building a trusted doctor-patient relationship. However, in the face of advancing diseases of civilization and shortages in medical staff, asynchronous medical care is becoming a key element of effective 21st century health and disease management. In this context, medical communicators are setting a new standard for doctor-patient communication especially during curative, preventive, or adjudicative activities(you can read about the advantages of medical communicators here).
In the following article, you will learn the five most common use cases for medical communicator in asynchronous patient care.*
Electronic transmission of recommendations
Adherence to medication(patient compliance), diet and lifestyle(patient adherence) is a basic requirement for effective therapy, especially for chronic diseases1. At the same time, it is one of the biggest challenges for the physician administering therapy. Studies show that sending recommendations electronically after a consultation increases patient adherence, compared to traditional paper-based (printed or written) transmission methods.2 That's why one of the most common uses of a medical communicator is to send recommendations electronically to patients after a visit. This way, the patient receives his recommendations in a text message (just like an e-prescription) without having to log into another system or application. Recommendations received this way do not get lost and are more understandable than those written by hand. In addition, the medical communicator allows the patient to ask additional questions, and gives the doctor the opportunity to modify the recommendations.3 And this in turn reduces medication errors and unwanted sideeffects4.
Ongoing monitoring of the effects of treatment
Physicians are using medical communicators for coordinated care to bridge the gap between postponed inpatientvisits5. Asynchronous contact with the patient works especially well for patients recently diagnosed or beginning a new treatment process, which requires the doctor to monitor the patient's condition on an ongoing basis and possibly modify prescribed therapy. Such activities do not require face-to-face contact, and the ability to continue care after a medical communicator visit has a positive impact on the patient's trust in the doctor, adherence to treatment, and even health outcomes6,7.
Educating patients and answering questions and concerns
Not all questions and concerns always come from the patient during an inpatient visit, which usually has a clearly defined time frame. Concerns also arise among patients during the course of treatment, and when the next visit is postponed or it is not necessary to ask a single question, the patient usually seeks information on his or her own on Google or from a currently available random doctor. These behaviors can lead to interrupted care, treatment errors or unwanted sideeffects8. That's why doctors are inviting their patients to connect with them in Medical Messenger, a safe space to ask questions and address concerns about health and illness.
Transmission and discussion of test results
Medical Messenger serves as a secure and formal channel for doctors to receive patient test results asynchronously. In this way, a patient can send test results to a doctor and receive further recommendations without having to make an in-person appointment or share sensitive personal information through informal channels such as SMS, WhatsApp or email. In this article, you'll learn how to proceed once you've received a patient's test results on a private phone and why it's a good idea to redirect conversations about a patient's condition to a medical messenger.
Renewal of previously prescribed prescriptions
Doctors are using Medical Communicator with patients with chronic diseases requiring systematic monitoring of treatment and renewal of prescriptions for prescribed therapy. Medical communicator allows doctors to conveniently renew prescriptions (and billing in the case of private health care) for their regular patients.
* The use cases were prepared based on scientific research and quantitative and qualitative studies of more than 3,000 doctors who use the Doctor.One medical communicator.
.png)
