The pandemic has seen doctors’ consultations shifting online, with the number of face-to-face visits plummeting by between 60 and 70 per cent across Europe, including in Malta, a recent health hub summit has heard.
According to the feedback received during the recent virtual summit, which was hosted by Barcelona, the pandemic forced people to turn to online consultations with their doctors for mild ailments.
The summit was attended by over 4,000 participants from 25 countries, including Tabib.mt, Malta’s only platform that enables patients to engage with their doctors, offering them an online experience of something that would have otherwise required them to visit the pharmacy and wait in a usually crowded room.
Together with the integration of digital communication applications, the platform also enables patients to fix appointments with specialised practitioners.
A spokesman for Tabib.mt said the focus of the debate during the summit was on telemedicine and how this proved to be the obvious solution as countries had to adapt to increasing restrictions, reducing social interaction, all combined with overloading of health systems.
“It was not just the obvious solution, however, it delivered impressive results and, increasingly, more countries are integrating telehealth into their caring pathways,” he said.
“Small to large countries are ramping up their efforts to be ahead of the curve and be on the forefront of telehealth similar to what has been happening over the past years in the UK, the USA and Australia,” the spokesman added.
“Although it took COVID to make most of us realise that some consultations do not require a physical presence, ranging from diabetes check-ups to mental health, Tabib.mt is not there to act as a substitute for traditional consultations but, rather, to act as a suitable bridge when physical contact is not required.”
As the public and health professionals become more used to, accepting and understanding telemedicine, digital literacy is still proving to be an issue, he said.
He added that, since its launch in April, at the height of the pandemic’s first wave, Tabib.mt saw an exponential increase in patients who resorted to engaging with their doctor virtually rather than physically.
The spokesman said the platform saw weekly increases of about 110 per cent until it reached a plateau over the summer months.
However, daily increases began again last month, when the second wave of the pandemic hit the island.
Tabib.mt recently reached a milestone of onboarding over 32 doctors from various specialisations on the platform, he said.
Prominent paediatrician Victor Grech was among the first to endorse Tabib.mt.
“Telehealth is something we have seen flourish in other countries,” he said.
“The conditions brought about by the pandemic measures meant we needed to catch up with this trend.
“Tabib.mt offers a fast and easy platform to increase patient contact where it matters. This is not a replacement for physical consultations but I find it an important add-on that strengthens the doctor-patient relationship.”