Save Your Time And See A Doctor Online

When you’re sick, you want to start feeling better, as fast as possible. You probably also want to avoid spreading your illness or picking something else up from the doctor’s waiting room.
Telemedicine is the answer. When you see your doctor online, you don’t have to leave the house, so you save travel time and costs.
You can use on-demand, virtual urgent care and get a doctor’s appointment at any time of the day or night. As long as you can handle a video call, you can manage the technological requirements. Here’s everything you need to know.
Make Sure Your Insurance Covers Telemedicine
Before you make a telemedicine appointment, make sure your insurance covers telehealth services. Most insurances do, although there may be limits on what you can have treated over the internet. Medicare can also pay for telehealth visits for physical and mental health care.
Call Your Doctor for an Appointment
If you want to see your regular doctor online, you probably can. Call up your doctor’s office and ask about online appointments.
Your doctor may or may not be able to get you in faster online than in person, but there’s a lot to be said for seeing your regular doctor. If you’re seeking care to manage a chronic condition, or get a medication refill, and not so much because you’re desperately ill and wondering how to get antibiotics online, it will be worth waiting a little while to see your regular primary care provider online.
If you need an urgent care appointment, there are plenty of on-demand telehealth services available. Telehealth has become a massive industry in the past couple of years. Some on-demand telemedicine providers offer 24/7 access to doctors online. If you get sick in the middle of the night, you no longer have to wait until morning to see your doctor.
Test Out the Technology
If at all possible, you should test out the video conferencing technology you’re going to use before your appointment. Leave yourself enough time to work out any problems – keep in mind that you might have to call your doctor’s receptionist back and ask for help navigating a patient portal app or accessing the right link to get into your virtual waiting room.
Make sure you have a phone, tablet, or computer with a working camera, speakers, and microphone. While you can use a voice call in a pinch, your doctor is going to be able to give you better care if he or she can see you.
Write Down Your Concerns
Any time you see a doctor you should make a list of your symptoms beforehand, so you don’t miss anything important when you’re telling the doctor what’s wrong. It can be easy to forget things in the heat of the moment.
Write down any questions you have for the doctor so you can remember to ask. If you have a rash or other symptoms that can be photographed, take pictures of them and send them to your doctor before your appointment. Have a pen and paper handy during your appointment so you can take notes.
Get Some Privacy
You’ll want to find someplace quiet and private to have your doctor’s appointment, but it also needs to be a place with good wifi or at least a good cellular data connection. You need a good internet connection to make the most of your virtual visit.
You need a quiet atmosphere to focus on the doctor and hear what he or she has to say. Make sure the area you choose is well-lighted, so the doctor can see you well.
Be Prepared to Go in Anyway
Your doctor can treat a pretty wide range of minor ailments over a video call, and it’s even a useful option for seeing a specialist located far away. But sometimes you’re just going to end up going into a doctor’s office anyway.
You might need to have a culture taken or get an MRI. There are lots of diagnostic tests that must be performed in person. But at least a virtual appointment can help save you the trouble of going into the doctor’s office some of the time.
Going to the doctor online can be the fastest option if you need medical care now. Even for routine care, telemedicine can save you the time and cost of traveling to your doctor’s office just to get a prescription refill. Try out telemedicine for yourself, and see why it’s getting so popular.