Teleconsultation for Cancer Treatment in India

India provides a host of cancer treatment initiatives so that the course of the treatment can be specially made for a person’s cancer. Cancer treatment in India includes targeted therapy, hormone therapy, precision medicine, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, stem cell transplant. The cost of cancer treatment in India varies in private hospitals and public hospitals. In the year 2017-2018, the cost was $10,600 in private hospitals and $2000 in public hospitals. Some of the top cancer hospitals in India are Tata Memorial Hospital(Mumbai), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi), The Cancer Institute (Chennai), Apollo Speciality Hospital (Chennai), The Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute(Ahmedabad) and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre (Delhi).

There are various cancer types and some of them are carcinoma (the most common type of cancer), leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, and brain and spinal cord tumors.

One of the most heard criticism of the Indian health care system is the high expenses of high-quality medical expenses, absence of enough access to doctors and lastly the waiting hours.

Recently teleconsultation has been solving the above problems. It helps a patient and the family members to consult the best oncologist in India. Usually, in some cases patients are provided with an advanced technology platform that helps patients obtain treatment guidance based on some basic inputs.

Situations in Which You Can Opt for Teleconsultation for Cancer Treatment:

Here are some of the situations:

• For therapy planning and consultation 
• For second opinion cancer treatment and understanding of your treatment strategy 
• For administration of oral-chemotherapy and treatment planning at home. 
• For questions concerning side-effects, general advice and dosages 
• For seeking nutritional consultation 
• For evaluation of your test reports 
• For seeking follow-up advice when your oncologist says that a teleconsultation will be enough.

Some specific course of action like treatment procedures, clinical examination and post-procedural check-ups requires you to visit the hospital. 

Teleconsultation also permits you to consult oncologists from top cancer hospitals in India. 

Many studies have revealed that teleconsultation is as good as an in-person consultation. This is because teleconsultation happens in a more relaxed and calmer situation with no hurry, and answering queries is much easier in a teleconsultation. Teleconsultation with oncologists in India will be allowing all your queries to be answered.

Some Situations When Teleconsultation is More Effective than In-Person Consultation:

Consulting a medical expert from another location: If you want to consult a medical expert from another city or country then teleconsultation is most effective as we can avoid travel expenses and stay costs and this will also save your time. This is especially more advantageous for people living in smaller towns where the availability of oncologists is restricted.

An Urgent Query: Teleconsultation allows you to reach out to your oncologist as soon as possible in case of an emergency. This way you can also avoid filling up forms and other formalities at the hospitals.

Avoid Vulnerability to Viruses: Cancers and cancer therapies diminish the immune system making it vulnerable to infections. In such cases, it is mostly advised to reduce exposure to viruses as much as possible. Here again, teleconsultation comes to your help. 

Patient Wants to Avoid Travelling: Healing from intensive cancer therapies requires the draining of all your energy and many times you will want to avoid unnecessary travel. Going to the hospital is also a cause of the increase in anxiety for some patients. Here again, teleconsultation can avoid such problems. 

Save Time: Reaching out to a doctor in a clinic or hospital requires travel and waiting time before you can consult your oncologist. Again teleconsultation is the best available option. Consulting experts from different locations through teleconsultation also help in saving travel time and also helps to avoid delay. 

Save Expenses: Websites display the fees of all experts and you can choose your doctor accordingly. This way knowing the fees beforehand your teleconsultation will be pocket-friendly and according to your budget. 

There are several companies that are providing telehealth services in recent times. 

Amongst them, Vanya Health is one of the top telehealth service providers. This company furnishes its patients with easy and cost-effective teleconsultations which they can attend from the comfort of their homes. The online video consultations allow all queries of the patient to be answered. Here patients can connect with global experts and discuss their problems and therapy requirements just at the click of a button.

Here are a few things that should be taken care of before teleconsultation:

• Collect all the pertinent test reports and submit them to the care manager in advance. 
• Avoid sitting in a noisy place during the call in order to minimise disturbances. 
• Make sure that you have a good internet connection during the call 
• Note, everything during the call so that you avoid missing out anything 

Summary:

Teleconsultation for cancer will allow you to consult your oncologist right from the comfort of your home. This will save your time and other expenses and you can also avoid traveling if you want to. There are many companies available nowadays that are providing the various services of teleconsultation. Avail of the services of such companies and fulfill your requirements.