Demand for OnlineDoctor on the rise
St.Gallen – The dermatologists at OnlineDoctor consult their patients by way of telemedicine. In view of the coronavirus crisis, demand has risen very sharply. Doctors are now keen to also increasingly take advantage of the benefits of telemedicine.
Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the acceptance of telemedicine has risen “rapidly”, as revealed in a press release issued by OnlineDoctor. The St.Gallen-based company offers digital consultations from its dermatologists. Patients are assessed by medical professionals on the basis of photos. “We are currently experiencing a huge increase in demand despite the fact that we already have 25 percent of all Swiss dermatologists on our platform”, comments Tobias Wolf, Co-Founder and Partner of OnlineDoctor, in the press release.
On the one hand, this increased demand is generated from the patient side. Paul Scheidegger, one of the other Co-Founders of OnlineDoctor, explains: “Many doctors are confronted by requests from patients under house arrest or those that do not want to visit the medical practice out of fear of infection”. However, on the other hand, the appeal of telemedicine is also greater for the doctors themselves. “Doctors want to ensure that the risks and therefore the number of personal contacts are kept as low as possible in order to be able to maintain their duty of care towards patients”, Scheidegger says. After all, doctors can remain active in this way even if they themselves are forced into quarantine.