Teleconsultation: Telehealth and Telemedicine

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What is Teleconsultation?

Teleconsultation is a way of providing health-related assistance and services using telecommunication and electronic information systems. It allows long-distance communication between patients and medical practitioners for diagnosis, advice, care, monitoring, etc. In simple words, medical teleconsultation is the use of information technology to deliver health-related consultations. While there can be several types of consultations, the following are the major categories.

Synchronous Teleconsultation

It is a direct or real-time consultation provided by a doctor to a patient from a distance via technology-enabled communication. It allows patients to connect with doctors, especially when the patients can’t physically visit a clinic or hospital.

Asynchronous Teleconsultation

It involves recording and sending data to a medical practitioner in the form of digital documents, videos or images. The doctor uses the data to provide diagnosis, consultation, or monitor patient vitals.

Online teleconsultation generally comes under the spectrum of telehealth and is similar to telemedicine. Let’s discuss telehealth and telemedicine further.

What is Telehealth?

Telehealth involves a combination of clinical and non-clinical services provided remotely by medical practitioners to patients or healthcare providers using technology.

The clinical aspect of telehealth includes services remotely provided by healthcare professionals to patients, such as consultation with a child specialist, dietitian, etc.

The non-clinical aspect of telehealth can include administrative meetings, medical education, provider training, etc.

What is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine is another form of online teleconsultation narrowed down specifically to clinical services delivered remotely to patients.

It involves the use of digital applications, software, or other forms of electronic communications to deliver clinical services.

Patients can use it for follow-up consultation, specialist consultation, medication management, chronic disease management, etc.

Difference between Telehealth and Teleconsultation

Here’s how telehealth and telemedicine differ from each other.

Parameters	Telehealth	Teleconsultation
Definition	Telehealth involves both clinical and non-clinical services.	Teleconsultation refers to only clinical services.
Scope	Telehealth provides a broader scope of medical services.	Teleconsultation offers a more narrowed scope of medical services than telehealth.
Examples	Remote consultation between doctor and patient, monitoring patient vitals, delivering health education, administrative meetings, etc.	Remote medical evaluation, digital consultation from specialists, medical diagnosis, sharing medical reports, images or videos with a doctor, etc.

Why should you choose ACKO Teleconsultation?

Medical teleconsultation is a value-added service available for people insured under ACKO Health Insurance or ACKO Group Health Insurance. As a policyholder, you get access to high-quality medical services delivered virtually by experienced healthcare professionals. It is a new-age insurance add-on you need in your policy to maximise the benefits. Here are more reasons why ACKO teleconsultation is an essential policy benefit for you.

1. Free consultation

Doctor consultation is free of cost for policyholders covered under ACKO Health Insurance and ACKO Group Health Insurance as per applicable terms and conditions.

2. Experienced doctors

ACKO has a broad network of handpicked healthcare professionals who specialise in their respective fields.

3. Consult with specialists

We have specialists across more than 30 areas of healthcare to help you obtain high-quality expert consultations. You can receive consultation from experienced Physicians, Dermatologists, Paediatricians, Gynaecologists, Orthopaedic Surgeons, and more.

4. Quick online appointment

You can book a doctor’s consultation via our mobile app in just a few simple steps.

5. Effective sessions

Doctors provide optimum time to offer a thorough diagnosis, making every session highly effective for your healthcare.

6. On-time reminders

We provide on-time reminders so you don’t forget about your doctor’s appointment, follow-ups, prescriptions, etc.

7. Regulatory compliance

All doctors under the ACKO network follow the ethics, professional conduct, and etiquette as per the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020 and Indian Medical Council Regulations, 2002.

ACKO Teleconsultation specialities

You can receive teleconsultation under the following specialities via ACKO.

Common specialities	Organ health	Chronic/long-term care	Surgeries/second opinions
Physician	Ear, nose and throat	Diabetologist	General surgery
Women’s health	Eyes	Mental health	Neurosurgery
Skin and hair specialist	Teeth	Endocrinologist	Heart surgery
Children’s specialist	Bones, joints, and muscles	Neurologist	Cancer treatment
Orthopedician	Stomach, liver and digestive tract	Rheumatologist	Surgical gastroenterologist
Dietitian	Kidney and urinary tract	Cancer care	Joint replacement
Physiotherapist	Heart	Pediatric neurologist	Kidney transplant
Mental wellness	Lung	Fertility specialist	Hemodialysis
Men’s sexual health	Brain	Clinical geneticist

How does ACKO Teleconsultation work?

With ACKO, you can consult an experienced medical practitioner in just a few steps.

Step 1

Download the ACKO app and log into your account.

Step 2

As a policyholder under ACKO Health Insurance or ACKO Group Health Insurance, you will see the option called “Doctor on Call” under “Health”.

Step 3

Select the category of specialist you want to consult.

Step 4

Choose from the list of doctors and click on “Consult Now”.

A chat box will open where you can answer simple questions related to your symptoms and schedule the consultation.

Why trust ACKO Teleconsultation?

With health insurance from ACKO, you get to leverage the teleconsultation feature whenever required. The following are the reasons why you can trust ACKO teleconsultation.

Protected patient information

Our platform provides a secure way of consulting with doctors. Your personal and health-related data remains protected, and your consultation with specialists stays confidential.

Healthcare at your fingertips

ACKO teleconsultation is dedicated to providing you with easy and quick access to healthcare. It is a perk that makes ACKO health insurance plans much more fruitful for you.

Specialists onboard

We have an extensive network of specialists across different healthcare areas such as organ health, surgeries, chronic diseases, long-term care, etc. Hence, you can find the right medical specialist for consultation.

Engaging sessions

ACKO telehealth consultation provides a safe and easily accessible environment to connect with doctors. You interact with experts from their respective medical fields, which helps in preventing, managing or recovering from diseases effectively.

Other benefits of ACKO Teleconsultation

Here are more benefits you can expect with ACKO teleconsultation.

1. Chronic disease management

Patients with chronic diseases need to visit doctors regularly. Teleconsultation at ACKO helps to save time via virtual consultations with doctors. Thus, you don’t have to spare a lot of time for in-person clinic/hospital visits.

2. Save time and money

Attending a doctor’s virtual appointment allows you to save time and money generally invested on travelling to a medical facility. You may also save yourself from long waiting periods at clinics.

3. Contactless consultation

Choosing teleconsultation enables contactless sessions with a doctor. You don’t get exposed to the outside elements. It is an effective way of preventing the spread of infectious diseases like flu, COVID-19, etc.

4. Reduces healthcare costs

With on-time consultations, you can manage and prevent several diseases from becoming serious that may increase the cost of your healthcare in future. Telehealth enables timely consultations when you can’t spare time to visit a doctor physically.

Things to keep in mind during a Teleconsultation

Here are the things to remember to get the best out of your teleconsultation session.

1. Prepare a list of questions you want to ask your doctor.

2. Keep your existing medical reports handy (in PDF format) along with the images (if any) you would like to share with the doctor.

3. Make sure that your microphone is working properly before an appointment.

4. Try to create a quiet surrounding.

5. Check the speed of the Wi-Fi connection.

6. Place the camera at your eye level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few commonly asked questions about teleconsultation at ACKO.

When and how to use the teleconsultation feature?

Teleconsultation is recommended when you need consultation from a specialist for prevention, diagnosis, management, follow-ups or other similar reasons. If your health condition requires you to go through a physical examination, you will need in-person consultation with a doctor. You can access the “Doctor on Call” feature via the ACKO app to use our teleconsultation facility. This feature is available for all ACKO Group Health Insurance and ACKO Health Insurance policyholders as per applicable terms and conditions.

What can be done through teleconsultation at ACKO?

Teleconsultation at ACKO covers a wide range of healthcare areas. You can connect with a specialist virtually to discuss things like chronic disease management, mental health management, heart-disease management, and much more. The specialists can guide you with their expertise in all health-related aspects to improve your lifestyle.

What to expect after teleconsultation is over?

Once your teleconsultation is over, your doctor will share a document (in PDF format) containing all the prescribed medicines (if required) and recommendations.

Why is it important to have a follow-up appointment?

A follow-up appointment is essential to figure out the level of improvement in your health condition after the last appointment. It will allow a doctor to assess your condition better and prepare a disease management/recovery strategy for you accordingly.

Moreover, if your doctor recommends certain tests during your appointment. It is recommended to get a follow-up consultation to share those reports and discuss the way forward with your doctor.

What to do if you’re facing issues in using the teleconsultation feature?

In case you face issues while using our teleconsultation feature, contact our team via [email protected] for assistance.

Disclaimer: The plans, services, features, processes, and other details mentioned on this page are subject to availability and changes. Please check the applicable policy wordings before making any insurance-related decisions. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] for any queries.