As the world adjusts to social distancing practices, people are turning to technology to help them connect. Like a company holding team meetings via video chat, the healthcare industry is turning to telemedicine for non-emergency medical care. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines telemedicine as “healing from a distance,” and it comes with more than a few benefits. We are proud to offer telemedicine at Silk Vision & Surgical Center.
What is Telemedicine?
It may surprise you to learn that telemedicine isn’t a new phenomenon invented for the novel coronavirus. Medical care providers first offered distance treatment via telephone in the 1950s. The services offered were severely limited due to the technology of the time. However, once access to the Internet became more widely available, the service really took off.
You may have also heard the related term “Telehealth,” recently as well. While these two terms are similar, telehealth involves the ability to remotely train and research conditions. Silk Vision is able to offer our patients telemedicine appointments, where we can provide you with distance medical care.
How to Schedule a Telemedicine Appointment
We are now allowed to interact with patients either via telephone or video conference using all types of platforms such as FaceTime or Google Hangouts, among others that you can discuss with our staff when you make your appointment. While telemedicine appointments may be something completely new to most of our patients, the process is very similar to your average appointment.
To schedule a telemedicine appointment, call our office by dialing: (703) 876-9700. Our staff will collect your insurance information, and the appointment will be billed as if you came into the office.
These virtual appointments are also available for our patients seeking cosmetic consultations with Dr. Rajjoub. As cosmetic consultations are not billed to your insurance, you will be charged a consultation fee of $100, which can be applied to your cosmetic procedure, should you choose to have one in the future.
Telemedicine at Silk Vision
During your telemedicine appointment with Silk Vision, our care providers will need your assistance to perform certain examinations and offer you the best caliber care. Don’t worry; no medical equipment is necessary. It is best to take your telemedicine video call in a well-lit room with as few distractions (such as kids and pets) as possible. Your doctor may also ask you to reorient your device’s camera for a better view. If one of our care providers notices something of concern during your virtual appointment, we can schedule a time for you to come to our office physically to handle the emergency.
By using today’s technology, Telemedicine appointments offer patients and healthcare providers extreme flexibility, especially in times when in-person appointments are difficult. Silk Vision is proud to offer such services to our patients and strive to ease the transition from in-person to virtual appointments. There is some speculation that the technological adaptations made during these unprecedented times could stick around long into the future. For now, though, Silk Vision is just happy to help however we can.
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