A Case Study: Trust and credibility of getting treatment through online medical service aggregators

Background

With an ever-evolving digital presence, everyone is more reliable on the internet. Internet is not limited to shopping but has extended to getting treatment, health consultations, and medical services like telemedicine, scheduling appointments, and more. This is problematic for those unaware of the online services or not fond of the technology. While the Internet is the most reliable information source worldwide, the trust factor is still challenging for the common man to understand whom to believe and whom not.

Purpose

As part of the project assigned by Hexa Health, I am writing this case study to understand how trustworthy and reliable online medical service aggregators are for getting treatment. With thorough research, I attempt to understand the challenges, solutions, recommendations, and ideas for improving online medical service providers.

Introduction

Ever since the coronavirus hit India, people have been getting serious and conscious about their health. They have started taking safety measures like staying at home and preferring online services for shopping or taking health consultations. In the wake of COVID-19, the WHO has advised and published guidelines to all health centers nationwide to provide teleconsultation and medicines.

From getting health insurance to online health consultations, the common man avoids visiting the clinic. Keeping this into consideration, health centers or doctors have started providing online medical services. Health centers like Star Health, Amwell, Doctor On Demand, Health Tap, Better Help, and more are not only providing 24*7 telehealth services but also helping people to get connected with the best doctors digitally across the world.

Challenges of Online Healthcare Services

Considering this, everyone has started building their online presence. While it is not time and cost-saving but also the best possible solution for cases wherein a patient cannot go to the clinic, it has its challenges that many aren’t aware of!!

• Act of Regulation: While the NMC Act and the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 require all doctors to register themselves under the law, the Information Technology Act of 2000 deals with information technology, but it does not primarily address healthcare issues. Since no law addresses the issue of data protection, it becomes a major concern when people get online medical advice.

• Privacy Concerns: It is easier to access any information online, the privacy concern regarding data protection will always be a primary concern for the common man. Even though the Indian government has passed the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 in August 2023, 815 million Aadhar card numbers and passport details have been breached alone in 2023.

• Qualification of Health Care Providers: It is one of the major barriers to technology. Anything and everything can be changed within seconds and this is when - “How can I trust this doctor?” “Is he/she qualified?” “what if his/her degree is fraud?”- such questions hit your mind. To overcome this factor, it is always better - to consult with your family doctor since you already know him/her, or ask your knowns to suggest the best doctor in the town.

Recommendations for improving Virtual Consultations

• Reliability: As stated, fraud and trust issue is the major challenge. Therefore, it is crucial to bring the authenticity and trust factor by following the medical rules and regulations. The Indian government should execute such laws that can ensure the ethical practices of the services offered by the physicians.

• Data Security Measures: Passing the law won’t solve the problem. It is important to come up with such solutions which ensure the data protection of the patients. Implementation of privacy policies, and encryption protocols can build patient’s trust to have online consultations.

• Transparency: To build any relationship be it between a lawyer and a victim or a doctor and a patient, transparency is one of the important things to build a trustworthy relationship. Lack of transparency leads to ineffective treatment of the disease as the patient will hide the problems from the physician.

Solutions to have the best virtual consultation

• Verification Process: To bring credibility, there should be an AI-driven verification process done by the patient with the doctor to ensure that the doctor’s qualification is not fake. Patients should also research the disease they want to get treatment for and consult with at least 2-3 doctors instead of trusting anyone.

• Physical Examination: Online consultation can save you time and effort but you won’t be able to make the physician understand your problem. Consulting the doctor in person will not only help your physician understand the core of the disease but will also help you build a strong relationship with trust and reliability. It will bridge the gap between online and offline healthcare.

• Telemedicine Practice Guidelines: Though telemedicine consultations have been driven since 25 March 2020 in India to control the spread of the coronavirus there are no proper guidelines directed by the government to maintain the same standard and provide the same information with patients as they should follow in offline consultation.

Ideas for Improvement

With the ever-evolving digital presence, things that can make people trust the online consultation of getting treatment are:

• Feedbacks: Patient reviews and ratings play a crucial role for any brand or business to gain a person’s trust. A proper review system wherein patients can give feedback or share their experiences they had on telemedicine can improve the trust factor.

• Telehealth Training: Professional training should be provided to healthcare professionals to use telehealth tools to ensure correct and accurate information, treatment, and diagnosis of the patient’s disease.

• Experience Records: The major problem nowadays is that we don’t ask for proof from anyone before getting the treatment. People should ask about medical records or should do thorough research about the qualifications of the physician. Talking about the case that recently happened with one of my know in Ranchi, Jharkhand - without a proper diagnosis, the doctor asked the patient's relative to submit 25k before admitting the patient to the emergency ward. As a result, the patient’s research about the disease helped her to save herself from the doctor’s scam.

Key Takeaways

In a nutshell, online consultation is the most convenient and go-to option in emergency cases. It is not only a time and money-saving option but also you can receive quick and urgent care to cure the disease. However, it is also important to have proper research about the physician and the disease to beware from the fraud doctors. To build trust and credibility, the government should come up with proper guidelines in an attempt to have safe telehealth facilities.