Doctor appointments going virtual amid coronavirus pandemic

ST. JOSEPH, Ind. --  Since the coronavirus pandemic, everything has gone virtual, including doctor visits. Telehealth has been around for years. However, it wasn’t until the coronavirus pandemic hit, that doctors started utilizing the platform more.

Telehealth appointments, also known as virtual doctor appointments, allow a patient to visit their healthcare provider from anywhere; just as long as they have an internet connection. These appointments give people medical access from the comfort of their own homes, so it limits their exposure to the coronavirus.

Some of the benefits of scheduling a virtual doctor visit include: same day patient visits, wider access to specialists, and faster doctor appointments; without the long wait lines. Dr. Rachael Harris Sprunger, specializes in pain management at South Bend Clinic. She has been using Doc In, the telehealth platform for South Bend Clinic, exclusively since the pandemic started.

Dr. Harris Sprunger said her favorite aspect of the virtual visits is that her patients, who are experiencing pain, don’t have to struggle getting into her office.

“I see a lot of them not being able to walk all the way to my clinic because of the pain that they are experiencing,” Dr. Harris Sprunger said. “And being able to treat them in their own home, where they feel safe and they feel that they’re not at risk to getting COVID, or something else due to their age or pathologies, I just feel like I’m just giving them another option and I’m opening up our doors to more people that couldn’t have had access before.”

The virtual doctor visits allow mobility for both patients and their doctors. For more information on how you can schedule your virtual doctor visit at South Bend Clinic go to https://www.southbendclinic.com/docin/