MediAngels
http://www.mediangels.com/
Call us
+91-22-65341520
Timings: 10am-5pm IST, Monday to Saturday.
Snail Mail to Head Quarters:
Angels Health Pvt Ltd
A/49, Shivji Market, Beside Yaadgar Hotel,
Sector- 19 D, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400705
Maharashtra, India.
Questions
1. What is MediAngels™?
2. Is MediAngels Tele-medicine?
3. What is the Mission Statement of MediAngels?
4. Why A Global eHospital?
5. How is MediAngels different from a hospital on the ground?
6. What are the disadvantages of an eHospital?
7. Why should I use MediAngels?
8. How can I use MediAngels?
9. What cannot be treated by MediAngels?
10. How does MediAngels ensure that the specialist has access to all information he/ she needs to make a diagnosis?
11. What about prescriptions?
12. What if I need additional tests or laboratory investigations?
13. Why should I give MediAngels my correct details?
14. Once I submit my question, who will first go through my file?
15. What is an eQuery?
16. Can I ask a specific doctor my eQuery?
17. What is an eConsult?
18. What is a panel consult?
19. How do I understand the various specialties, qualifications and degrees?
20. How do I take photographs and scan my documents?
21. Does MediAngels accept images and CT scans etc by courier?
22. Is my data secure? What techniques does MediAngels use for securing my data?
23. Why do I need to sign disclaimers?
24. Will MediAngels ever sell or misuse my confidential data?
25. For how long will MediAngels store my consult details?
26. Is the consultation to the viewers/patients a paid service? Or are you getting money from advertising on the web?
27. Does MediAngels recommend that I contact my virtual consultant in person for further care or surgery?
28. Does MediAngels perform any philanthropic work as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility?
Answers
1. What is MediAngels?
MediAngels is a breakthrough innovation in healthcare and the world’s first Global eHospital. MediAngels aims to remove all territorial barriers between healthcare consumers and medical specialists from around the world. As global citizens, you have the right to seek the best health information and care for yourself. At MediAngels, every doctor is at your service, irrespective of their physical/geographical location.
Return to top
2. Is MediAngels tele-medicine?
Telemedicine is the delivery of medical care and services from a remote location which makes it one of the oldest areas of applied technology in medicine.
MediAngels is not merely telemedicine – it is a slightly different and a much advanced concept. MediAngels is run like a fully-functional hospital by our globally based medical experts, with appropriate patient care systems, audits and patient care committees in place. Our patient-centric approach ensures that you, as a consumer, get the best and most specialized opinion for your particular health problem. The MediAngels panel is the most complete, credible, specialized and professionally verified healthcare panel available globally at this time.
At MediAngels, you get to choose not just a doctor, but THE doctor for your particular needs. Stay at home, the world’s best doctors will visit you at a click!
Return to top
3. What is the Mission Statement of MediAngels?
MediAngels aims to become the World's preeminent and most trusted Global eHealth Care Organization by:
·Changing the way medicine is currently practiced and delivered; thereby changing the health-care paradigm of the world
·Providing the highest quality information and service for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illnesses
·Reducing the health information asymmetry by providing consumers with information and options, thus enabling them to take the right decisions.
· Involving, supporting and accrediting health care professionals of the highest calibre and providing them with support structure and amenities to promote the widest reach of quality medical care
·Continually researching, innovating and developing technology and tools to facilitate the best possible virtual medical care for the global citizen.
Return to top
4. Why A Global eHospital?
In a perfect world, each individual would have access to the best possible physician for a particular ailment irrespective of physical boundaries. Medical science is rapidly advancing in terms of new techniques and super specialization. Your local doctor may not be the world authority on an ailment that you have or the presentation thereof. Therefore, it only makes sense that you should be able to consult a highly trained specialist who treats ailments such as yours more often than others.
However, that may not always be possible considering the vagaries of distances, international travel barriers, costs, time zones, paper work etc. A Global eHospital like MediAngels transcends these barriers and enables you to consult the best possible specialist at your convenience, from the comfort of your home and at a nominal cost. The health professionals that form the core team of MediAngels have been part of the best health-care systems for decades. They are in tune with the changing dynamics of medical practice worldwide and the modern-day consumer’s expectations from health care. They also understand what a ‘brick and mortar’ hospital can sometimes miss. You research for days on end before buying a television, shouldn’t you be doing the same before getting yourself treated?
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5. How is MediAngels different from a hospital on the ground?
There are certain unavoidable issues involved with the way healthcare is administered in hospitals in today’s world. Let’s discuss some hypothetical examples and highlight potential problems that a consumer may face in hospitals:
Medicine has become so super-specialized that sometimes it is difficult even for your doctor to decide which of his colleagues would best treat a particular ailment. A hospital’s panel of consultants (the board listing all doctors at the hospital, right at the entrance of the hospital) typically has thirty or more specialties. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult to zero-in on the right specialist. For instance, a common headache may be caused by diverse factors like high blood pressure, eye disorders, sinusitis or colds. It will save you tremendous time and resources if you knew which amongst the many specialists listed would treat your headache the best.
Also, in a hospital/ clinic, it may be difficult to verify the antecedents and training of the specialist whom you have visited or have been referred to. Due to tremendous overlap between specialties as well as between different systems of medicines such as Ayurveda/homeopathy, it is recommended that you know your doctor fully before you visit him/her. For instance, if your doctor diagnoses sinusitis and recommends sinus surgery as a treatment for your headache, would you be convinced enough to go for the surgery or would you rather take a second opinion? Wouldn’t you want to gather enough facts and information before you make such an important decision? Sometimes the communication may not be satisfactory and other options may not have been explained adequately. Before proceeding with any surgery or therapy, it may be wise to explore newer therapies and techniques by consulting a renowned specialist.
MediAngels attempts to solve some of these issues by:
Providing you a panel of doctors chosen carefully from amongst the best world over.
Providing information that allows you to choose the appropriate specialist for YOUR problem. The information displayed about all doctors on MediAngels is verified and presented in a standard format reducing unnecessary clutter and confusion.
Providing physician support to assist you in making a crucial decision if you are still in doubt. Even after making a choice, there will be checks in place to help you make corrections in case you have made an error in choosing the specialist or specialty.
Teaching you how to decipher whether your doctor is equipped to deal with YOUR particular ailment and helping you make a well-informed and appropriate decision.
Staying away from the ‘conflict of interest’ angle providing you with honest, objective and unbiased opinions.
Making all services and facilities accessible from the comfort of your home – at a simple click!
Return to top
6. What are the disadvantages of an eHospital?
An eHospital like MediAngels does have its set of limitations.
MediAngels, currently, is only meant to complement and NOT replace the physical interaction between physicians and the patients. In case of some ailments, a well organized internet-based consultation and virtual examination with appropriate reports, scans and photographs can replace a physical examination while in others, it may only serve as a supportive consult to a physical examination. However, a number of innovative solutions like digital stethoscopes, virtual glass interfaces, Virtual Blood Pressure apparatuses and Virtual Electro-Cardiograms (ECG's) are being planned by MediAngels, all of which promise to transform the way we look at healthcare forever!
Added to this is the fact that a Virtual Hospital is hamstrung by not having its own infrastructure on the ground. For example, if you get a Computed Tomography (CT) Scan done somewhere and scan across the plates, the Radiologists and Surgeons at MediAngels may face limitations owing to the quality of the films provided, the quality of the scanning machine as well as the quality and the size of the scanned photographs.
However, we do believe that a Global eHospital has distinct advantages in providing information and options to consumers. The advantages will keep on increasing rapidly as technology evolves.
Return to top
7. Why should I use MediAngels?
Credible Care
MediAngels gives you access to the best care-givers for your specific ailment. The unique and user-friendly system allows you to quickly sift through the panel and find the most specialized and experienced doctor for your health problems.
Affordable
A typical MediAngels query can cost as little as USD $10.
Ethical
Your MediAngels physicians will not be driven by monetary interests when they advise you for or against surgery as they will not be performing your surgery themselves. They are also carefully chosen to ensure that they do not have any personal affiliations with pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Evidence-based Care
Your MediAngels physician will provide you care based on the current strength of peer-reviewed evidence in medical literature.
Convenient
You can seek an opinion from the best doctors globally, from the comfort of your home, at a click.
Confidential
We follow all SSL / encryption protocols for data privacy on the net through Verisign and eTrust as well as all HIPAA guidelines for patient data protection and privacy.We will only share your information with healthcare professionals selected and authorized by you. The website is securely encrypted and modules regulate who can access your data. We would like to add that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (P.L.104-191) enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996 is one of the toughest acts to satisfy world over for a business of this kind
Efficient
Now, you do not have to travel long miles, struggle for an appointment or wait for hours at the doctor’s office.
Safe
Our medical specialists are credentialed, individually trained and personally interviewed by our Director, Medical Operations and routinely monitored to evaluate the quality of their care. MediAngels has a Quality Assurance & Ethics Maintenance Committee consisting of a neutral panel of seven highly-placed individuals, from different walks of life and different nationalities. This Committee is led by one of the top-most physicians of the world, who is not a part of the Physician Panel, to ensure neutrality. This Committee audits a set number of consults every month to ensure that you get the best possible care.
Secure
Our site, communications, and our patients data are all safely secured, 128 SSL encrypted and backed up in compliance with international laws and regulations.
So, even if you could have written to the same physician via email or through a query on his website, it is just NOT the same as interacting via MediAngels in terms of getting a personalized medical opinion, signed out officially by your specialist after consultation at the Global eHospital. Many physicians actually find it easier to communicate systematically via MediAngels instead of answering queries in a haphazard manner from their own website. For this reason, many have chosen to place a MediAngels logo on their website that directs traffic to their MediAngels profile page.
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8. How can I use MediAngels?
To use MediAngels you need:
A computer with an internet connection
Basic knowledge of the internet
A scanner/ a facility to get documents scanned/ or a reasonably good digital camera to photograph your documents
A valid credit card
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9. What cannot be treated by MediAngels?
MediAngels takes about 2-3 working days to respond to your query and hence, no acute or life-threatening emergencies can be treated by MediAngels.
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10. How does MediAngels ensure that the specialist has access to all information he/ she needs to make a diagnosis?
There are detailed forms for the history and examination details that you, the consumer/ patient will have to fill up. We do recommend taking time to do this so that the specialist has all details needed to make a diagnosis. You can also upload all past consult details, past investigation reports, photographs of CT scans etc up to a maximum of 15 MB of attachments. In case this space is not adequate for your files, you have the facility to buy more space.Thus, in most cases, the MediAngels consultant will have access to all details needed to make a diagnosis and provide more information. What makes this process unique is that our round-the-clock website and technology platform administrator is a physician as well! At the backend, this physician will ensure that your specialist has everything needed to make a decision and will contact you in case the information is inadequate, incomplete or the treating specialist requests more information from you.
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11. What about prescriptions?
MediAngels will soon tie up with partners for the delivery of electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy of your choice.
If you are from the same country as our treating physician and the laws of your country allow this, a traditional prescription may be generated for our physicians to sign and fax. The prescription is fully compliant and includes all required information.
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12. What if I need additional tests or laboratory investigations?
Your physician might request tests to assist with your healthcare. Diagnostic tests help physicians detect diseases at an earlier stage, prescribe therapies, and monitor results. Currently, your MediAngels™ has provision of ordering investigations online via its eInvestigation facility. The tests can be ordered online, from accredited ISO certified partner labs and that too at a discounted price. Further, the reports are generated as a hard copy as well as a soft copy which is automatically updated into your profile at MediAngels. As of now, this service is available only in India.
However, MediAngels will soon have a strategic alliance with top companies globally to provide this service and once that happens, you will be able to choose from many locations in your country to get the tests done at your convenience.
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13. Why should I give MediAngels my correct details?
Quality virtual healthcare is totally dependent upon the data submitted by the consumer. Any false report or data can change the opinion and therapy considerably. We highly recommend and expect that you as an intelligent consumer will be careful in furnishing correct information in terms of identity, basic data such as height/ weight and clinical reports. Also, E-queries, as outlined above, have their limitation as they only serve to answer basic questions. E-consults allow for attachment of files and more comprehensive opinions.
Consults will stand null and void and MediAngels will bear no liability if it is found that you have provided incorrect, incomplete or falsified information, willfully or otherwise.
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14. Once I submit my question, who will first go through my file?
Just like in a hospital, your case history and question will be first read and assessed by a MediAngels Family Physician. This family doctor will then assign a specialty if not already assigned, make sure that your entire ‘case file’ is complete, interact with you and ask you queries if certain details are unclear and then send your file to the concerned Global Medical Expert™.
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15. What Is An eQuery?
eQuery is a service that allows you to put up a health-related question to your chosen specialty in less than 60 words. NO documents can be uploaded through this facility. MediAngels recommends that you use this facility only to ask basic medical queries and to get a generic idea about your condition or treatment options. eQuery cannot be used to seek complete treatment as specialists would be unable to suggest any without looking at investigations and detailed reports. To upload these, you will need to use the eConsult facility.
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16. Can I ask a specific doctor my eQuery?
No. MediAngels allows you to choose the specialty but not the doctor. The eQuery will be answered by the available Global Medical Expert within the specialty you choose.
What happens if I do not know which specialty to choose?
The MediAngels Administrator Doctor Physician who will go through your files and help you make a choice of a suitable specialty and a doctor for eQuery, eConsult & Panel Consult.
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17. What is an eConsult?
eConsult is the flagship medical service of MediAngels whereby you can take a full consultation from your chosen specialist or specialty at MediAngels. Besides a provision for your full history, there is allowance for attachment of scanned reports, consultation papers etc. eConsult allows the consultant to comprehensively review your case and recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
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18. What is a Panel consult?
Many health conditions involve multiple health systems and affect different organs of the body. For a holistic and complete review, multiple specialists (typically 3-4) may be required to decide upon a treatment plan. Panel consult streamlines such a consult by intelligently aligning various specialties for a wholesome treatment recommendation. Typically, you may choose a panel consult and we will help you choose the specialists/ specialties or we may recommend that you to take a Panel Consult after a review of your records. Panel consult saves time, money and effort on your part.
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19. How do I understand the various specialties, qualifications and degrees?
With so many specialties and degrees, it may be confusing for a layperson to understand what each one means.At MediAngels, the specialist degrees are available for consumer to be seen. Each specialty has also been explained with a brief write-up about them. The unique MediAngels search function helps you look up the best specialist for your health condition.
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20. How do I take photographs and scan my documents?
Clinical photos: Should be taken in a well lit room with close-up of the affected part at a resolution of at least 1.2 megapixels. Images can be uploaded only in JPEG. format.
Paper reports/ previous consultation papers: Should be scanned at a resolution of 300 DPI in A4 size and then uploaded as JPEG. files. Any cyber café or computer centre will help you with the scanning at nominal charges.
X-ray films/ CT scan/ Ultrasound/ MRI reports: You can ask the radiology centre to copy the images on a CD in JPEG. format. Modern diagnostic centers are equipped with this facility.
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21. Does MediAngels accept images and CT scans etc by courier?
Yes, MediAngels is working on this facility and soon, you will be able to send scans and data via courier to MediAngels centers. You will have to bear the cost and the responsibility of delivery and the pick-up of the plates, if you want them back. You could also send us a self-addressed stamped envelope of an appropriate size so that we can send your materials back to you, once the consultation is completed.
MediAngels bears no responsibility for the loss of any documents in transit.
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22. Is my data secure? What techniques does MediAngels use for securing my data?
All the data at MediAngels is stored in separated dedicated servers and is triple wavelet encoded. Multiple checks are in place to securely store your confidential and privileged health- related information. HIPAA rights will be protected,the website will be secure and encrypted with modules that lock in selective data access.
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23. Why do I need to sign disclaimers?
Disclaimers are necessary to ratify that you understand what MediAngels can or cannot do and protect your relationship with us better.
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24. Will MediAngels ever sell or misuse my confidential data?
MediAngels uses your data to ensure better health care for you. Beyond that, your data is safe with us and will never be divulged to a third party without your prior information and consent.
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25. For how long will MediAngels store my consult details?
MediAngels will store all consults for a minimum of one year from the consult date. During this time, you will have access to these details through your MediAngels account. We might be able to make the consult available beyond this period as well, but you may have to pay a small processing fee for extending the validity period.
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26. Is the consultation to the viewers/patients a paid service? Or are you getting money from advertising on the web?
This is a paid service. We believe that quality medical care cannot be ensured philanthropically.. All the physicians associated with MediAngels have very lucrative careers and we have to ensure that this is worth their while.
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27. Does MediAngels recommend that I contact my virtual consultant in person for further care or surgery?
MediAngels is committed to providing credible, professional, specialized, ethical medical opinions from renowned specialists who are empanelled by invitation only. If you have been advised a surgery, you are free to get it done anywhere you wish. If you are very impressed and wish to follow-up independently with the MediAngels doctor in person, you can do so, but MediAngels will maintain its unbiased stance and would not encourage that. MediAngels will NOT furnish physicians’ contact information to the consumer or vice versa.
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28. Does MediAngels perform any philanthropic work as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility?
MediAngels has an extensive plan for charity and philanthropy. MediAngels also plans to make consults available at the District Health Center level in China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa on a philanthropic basis. As many as 50% of MediAngels physicians are part of this philanthropic initiative.
Call us
+91-22-65341520
Timings: 10am-5pm IST, Monday to Saturday.
Snail Mail to Head Quarters:
Angels Health Pvt Ltd
A/49, Shivji Market, Beside Yaadgar Hotel,
Sector- 19 D, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400705
Maharashtra, India.
Questions
1. What is MediAngels™?
2. Is MediAngels Tele-medicine?
3. What is the Mission Statement of MediAngels?
4. Why A Global eHospital?
5. How is MediAngels different from a hospital on the ground?
6. What are the disadvantages of an eHospital?
7. Why should I use MediAngels?
8. How can I use MediAngels?
9. What cannot be treated by MediAngels?
10. How does MediAngels ensure that the specialist has access to all information he/ she needs to make a diagnosis?
11. What about prescriptions?
12. What if I need additional tests or laboratory investigations?
13. Why should I give MediAngels my correct details?
14. Once I submit my question, who will first go through my file?
15. What is an eQuery?
16. Can I ask a specific doctor my eQuery?
17. What is an eConsult?
18. What is a panel consult?
19. How do I understand the various specialties, qualifications and degrees?
20. How do I take photographs and scan my documents?
21. Does MediAngels accept images and CT scans etc by courier?
22. Is my data secure? What techniques does MediAngels use for securing my data?
23. Why do I need to sign disclaimers?
24. Will MediAngels ever sell or misuse my confidential data?
25. For how long will MediAngels store my consult details?
26. Is the consultation to the viewers/patients a paid service? Or are you getting money from advertising on the web?
27. Does MediAngels recommend that I contact my virtual consultant in person for further care or surgery?
28. Does MediAngels perform any philanthropic work as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility?
Answers
1. What is MediAngels?
MediAngels is a breakthrough innovation in healthcare and the world’s first Global eHospital. MediAngels aims to remove all territorial barriers between healthcare consumers and medical specialists from around the world. As global citizens, you have the right to seek the best health information and care for yourself. At MediAngels, every doctor is at your service, irrespective of their physical/geographical location.
Return to top
2. Is MediAngels tele-medicine?
Telemedicine is the delivery of medical care and services from a remote location which makes it one of the oldest areas of applied technology in medicine.
MediAngels is not merely telemedicine – it is a slightly different and a much advanced concept. MediAngels is run like a fully-functional hospital by our globally based medical experts, with appropriate patient care systems, audits and patient care committees in place. Our patient-centric approach ensures that you, as a consumer, get the best and most specialized opinion for your particular health problem. The MediAngels panel is the most complete, credible, specialized and professionally verified healthcare panel available globally at this time.
At MediAngels, you get to choose not just a doctor, but THE doctor for your particular needs. Stay at home, the world’s best doctors will visit you at a click!
Return to top
3. What is the Mission Statement of MediAngels?
MediAngels aims to become the World's preeminent and most trusted Global eHealth Care Organization by:
·Changing the way medicine is currently practiced and delivered; thereby changing the health-care paradigm of the world
·Providing the highest quality information and service for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illnesses
·Reducing the health information asymmetry by providing consumers with information and options, thus enabling them to take the right decisions.
· Involving, supporting and accrediting health care professionals of the highest calibre and providing them with support structure and amenities to promote the widest reach of quality medical care
·Continually researching, innovating and developing technology and tools to facilitate the best possible virtual medical care for the global citizen.
Return to top
4. Why A Global eHospital?
In a perfect world, each individual would have access to the best possible physician for a particular ailment irrespective of physical boundaries. Medical science is rapidly advancing in terms of new techniques and super specialization. Your local doctor may not be the world authority on an ailment that you have or the presentation thereof. Therefore, it only makes sense that you should be able to consult a highly trained specialist who treats ailments such as yours more often than others.
However, that may not always be possible considering the vagaries of distances, international travel barriers, costs, time zones, paper work etc. A Global eHospital like MediAngels transcends these barriers and enables you to consult the best possible specialist at your convenience, from the comfort of your home and at a nominal cost. The health professionals that form the core team of MediAngels have been part of the best health-care systems for decades. They are in tune with the changing dynamics of medical practice worldwide and the modern-day consumer’s expectations from health care. They also understand what a ‘brick and mortar’ hospital can sometimes miss. You research for days on end before buying a television, shouldn’t you be doing the same before getting yourself treated?
Return to top
5. How is MediAngels different from a hospital on the ground?
There are certain unavoidable issues involved with the way healthcare is administered in hospitals in today’s world. Let’s discuss some hypothetical examples and highlight potential problems that a consumer may face in hospitals:
Medicine has become so super-specialized that sometimes it is difficult even for your doctor to decide which of his colleagues would best treat a particular ailment. A hospital’s panel of consultants (the board listing all doctors at the hospital, right at the entrance of the hospital) typically has thirty or more specialties. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult to zero-in on the right specialist. For instance, a common headache may be caused by diverse factors like high blood pressure, eye disorders, sinusitis or colds. It will save you tremendous time and resources if you knew which amongst the many specialists listed would treat your headache the best.
Also, in a hospital/ clinic, it may be difficult to verify the antecedents and training of the specialist whom you have visited or have been referred to. Due to tremendous overlap between specialties as well as between different systems of medicines such as Ayurveda/homeopathy, it is recommended that you know your doctor fully before you visit him/her. For instance, if your doctor diagnoses sinusitis and recommends sinus surgery as a treatment for your headache, would you be convinced enough to go for the surgery or would you rather take a second opinion? Wouldn’t you want to gather enough facts and information before you make such an important decision? Sometimes the communication may not be satisfactory and other options may not have been explained adequately. Before proceeding with any surgery or therapy, it may be wise to explore newer therapies and techniques by consulting a renowned specialist.
MediAngels attempts to solve some of these issues by:
Providing you a panel of doctors chosen carefully from amongst the best world over.
Providing information that allows you to choose the appropriate specialist for YOUR problem. The information displayed about all doctors on MediAngels is verified and presented in a standard format reducing unnecessary clutter and confusion.
Providing physician support to assist you in making a crucial decision if you are still in doubt. Even after making a choice, there will be checks in place to help you make corrections in case you have made an error in choosing the specialist or specialty.
Teaching you how to decipher whether your doctor is equipped to deal with YOUR particular ailment and helping you make a well-informed and appropriate decision.
Staying away from the ‘conflict of interest’ angle providing you with honest, objective and unbiased opinions.
Making all services and facilities accessible from the comfort of your home – at a simple click!
Return to top
6. What are the disadvantages of an eHospital?
An eHospital like MediAngels does have its set of limitations.
MediAngels, currently, is only meant to complement and NOT replace the physical interaction between physicians and the patients. In case of some ailments, a well organized internet-based consultation and virtual examination with appropriate reports, scans and photographs can replace a physical examination while in others, it may only serve as a supportive consult to a physical examination. However, a number of innovative solutions like digital stethoscopes, virtual glass interfaces, Virtual Blood Pressure apparatuses and Virtual Electro-Cardiograms (ECG's) are being planned by MediAngels, all of which promise to transform the way we look at healthcare forever!
Added to this is the fact that a Virtual Hospital is hamstrung by not having its own infrastructure on the ground. For example, if you get a Computed Tomography (CT) Scan done somewhere and scan across the plates, the Radiologists and Surgeons at MediAngels may face limitations owing to the quality of the films provided, the quality of the scanning machine as well as the quality and the size of the scanned photographs.
However, we do believe that a Global eHospital has distinct advantages in providing information and options to consumers. The advantages will keep on increasing rapidly as technology evolves.
Return to top
7. Why should I use MediAngels?
Credible Care
MediAngels gives you access to the best care-givers for your specific ailment. The unique and user-friendly system allows you to quickly sift through the panel and find the most specialized and experienced doctor for your health problems.
Affordable
A typical MediAngels query can cost as little as USD $10.
Ethical
Your MediAngels physicians will not be driven by monetary interests when they advise you for or against surgery as they will not be performing your surgery themselves. They are also carefully chosen to ensure that they do not have any personal affiliations with pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Evidence-based Care
Your MediAngels physician will provide you care based on the current strength of peer-reviewed evidence in medical literature.
Convenient
You can seek an opinion from the best doctors globally, from the comfort of your home, at a click.
Confidential
We follow all SSL / encryption protocols for data privacy on the net through Verisign and eTrust as well as all HIPAA guidelines for patient data protection and privacy.We will only share your information with healthcare professionals selected and authorized by you. The website is securely encrypted and modules regulate who can access your data. We would like to add that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (P.L.104-191) enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996 is one of the toughest acts to satisfy world over for a business of this kind
Efficient
Now, you do not have to travel long miles, struggle for an appointment or wait for hours at the doctor’s office.
Safe
Our medical specialists are credentialed, individually trained and personally interviewed by our Director, Medical Operations and routinely monitored to evaluate the quality of their care. MediAngels has a Quality Assurance & Ethics Maintenance Committee consisting of a neutral panel of seven highly-placed individuals, from different walks of life and different nationalities. This Committee is led by one of the top-most physicians of the world, who is not a part of the Physician Panel, to ensure neutrality. This Committee audits a set number of consults every month to ensure that you get the best possible care.
Secure
Our site, communications, and our patients data are all safely secured, 128 SSL encrypted and backed up in compliance with international laws and regulations.
So, even if you could have written to the same physician via email or through a query on his website, it is just NOT the same as interacting via MediAngels in terms of getting a personalized medical opinion, signed out officially by your specialist after consultation at the Global eHospital. Many physicians actually find it easier to communicate systematically via MediAngels instead of answering queries in a haphazard manner from their own website. For this reason, many have chosen to place a MediAngels logo on their website that directs traffic to their MediAngels profile page.
Return to top
8. How can I use MediAngels?
To use MediAngels you need:
A computer with an internet connection
Basic knowledge of the internet
A scanner/ a facility to get documents scanned/ or a reasonably good digital camera to photograph your documents
A valid credit card
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9. What cannot be treated by MediAngels?
MediAngels takes about 2-3 working days to respond to your query and hence, no acute or life-threatening emergencies can be treated by MediAngels.
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10. How does MediAngels ensure that the specialist has access to all information he/ she needs to make a diagnosis?
There are detailed forms for the history and examination details that you, the consumer/ patient will have to fill up. We do recommend taking time to do this so that the specialist has all details needed to make a diagnosis. You can also upload all past consult details, past investigation reports, photographs of CT scans etc up to a maximum of 15 MB of attachments. In case this space is not adequate for your files, you have the facility to buy more space.Thus, in most cases, the MediAngels consultant will have access to all details needed to make a diagnosis and provide more information. What makes this process unique is that our round-the-clock website and technology platform administrator is a physician as well! At the backend, this physician will ensure that your specialist has everything needed to make a decision and will contact you in case the information is inadequate, incomplete or the treating specialist requests more information from you.
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11. What about prescriptions?
MediAngels will soon tie up with partners for the delivery of electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy of your choice.
If you are from the same country as our treating physician and the laws of your country allow this, a traditional prescription may be generated for our physicians to sign and fax. The prescription is fully compliant and includes all required information.
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12. What if I need additional tests or laboratory investigations?
Your physician might request tests to assist with your healthcare. Diagnostic tests help physicians detect diseases at an earlier stage, prescribe therapies, and monitor results. Currently, your MediAngels™ has provision of ordering investigations online via its eInvestigation facility. The tests can be ordered online, from accredited ISO certified partner labs and that too at a discounted price. Further, the reports are generated as a hard copy as well as a soft copy which is automatically updated into your profile at MediAngels. As of now, this service is available only in India.
However, MediAngels will soon have a strategic alliance with top companies globally to provide this service and once that happens, you will be able to choose from many locations in your country to get the tests done at your convenience.
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13. Why should I give MediAngels my correct details?
Quality virtual healthcare is totally dependent upon the data submitted by the consumer. Any false report or data can change the opinion and therapy considerably. We highly recommend and expect that you as an intelligent consumer will be careful in furnishing correct information in terms of identity, basic data such as height/ weight and clinical reports. Also, E-queries, as outlined above, have their limitation as they only serve to answer basic questions. E-consults allow for attachment of files and more comprehensive opinions.
Consults will stand null and void and MediAngels will bear no liability if it is found that you have provided incorrect, incomplete or falsified information, willfully or otherwise.
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14. Once I submit my question, who will first go through my file?
Just like in a hospital, your case history and question will be first read and assessed by a MediAngels Family Physician. This family doctor will then assign a specialty if not already assigned, make sure that your entire ‘case file’ is complete, interact with you and ask you queries if certain details are unclear and then send your file to the concerned Global Medical Expert™.
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15. What Is An eQuery?
eQuery is a service that allows you to put up a health-related question to your chosen specialty in less than 60 words. NO documents can be uploaded through this facility. MediAngels recommends that you use this facility only to ask basic medical queries and to get a generic idea about your condition or treatment options. eQuery cannot be used to seek complete treatment as specialists would be unable to suggest any without looking at investigations and detailed reports. To upload these, you will need to use the eConsult facility.
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16. Can I ask a specific doctor my eQuery?
No. MediAngels allows you to choose the specialty but not the doctor. The eQuery will be answered by the available Global Medical Expert within the specialty you choose.
What happens if I do not know which specialty to choose?
The MediAngels Administrator Doctor Physician who will go through your files and help you make a choice of a suitable specialty and a doctor for eQuery, eConsult & Panel Consult.
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17. What is an eConsult?
eConsult is the flagship medical service of MediAngels whereby you can take a full consultation from your chosen specialist or specialty at MediAngels. Besides a provision for your full history, there is allowance for attachment of scanned reports, consultation papers etc. eConsult allows the consultant to comprehensively review your case and recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
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18. What is a Panel consult?
Many health conditions involve multiple health systems and affect different organs of the body. For a holistic and complete review, multiple specialists (typically 3-4) may be required to decide upon a treatment plan. Panel consult streamlines such a consult by intelligently aligning various specialties for a wholesome treatment recommendation. Typically, you may choose a panel consult and we will help you choose the specialists/ specialties or we may recommend that you to take a Panel Consult after a review of your records. Panel consult saves time, money and effort on your part.
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19. How do I understand the various specialties, qualifications and degrees?
With so many specialties and degrees, it may be confusing for a layperson to understand what each one means.At MediAngels, the specialist degrees are available for consumer to be seen. Each specialty has also been explained with a brief write-up about them. The unique MediAngels search function helps you look up the best specialist for your health condition.
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20. How do I take photographs and scan my documents?
Clinical photos: Should be taken in a well lit room with close-up of the affected part at a resolution of at least 1.2 megapixels. Images can be uploaded only in JPEG. format.
Paper reports/ previous consultation papers: Should be scanned at a resolution of 300 DPI in A4 size and then uploaded as JPEG. files. Any cyber café or computer centre will help you with the scanning at nominal charges.
X-ray films/ CT scan/ Ultrasound/ MRI reports: You can ask the radiology centre to copy the images on a CD in JPEG. format. Modern diagnostic centers are equipped with this facility.
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21. Does MediAngels accept images and CT scans etc by courier?
Yes, MediAngels is working on this facility and soon, you will be able to send scans and data via courier to MediAngels centers. You will have to bear the cost and the responsibility of delivery and the pick-up of the plates, if you want them back. You could also send us a self-addressed stamped envelope of an appropriate size so that we can send your materials back to you, once the consultation is completed.
MediAngels bears no responsibility for the loss of any documents in transit.
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22. Is my data secure? What techniques does MediAngels use for securing my data?
All the data at MediAngels is stored in separated dedicated servers and is triple wavelet encoded. Multiple checks are in place to securely store your confidential and privileged health- related information. HIPAA rights will be protected,the website will be secure and encrypted with modules that lock in selective data access.
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23. Why do I need to sign disclaimers?
Disclaimers are necessary to ratify that you understand what MediAngels can or cannot do and protect your relationship with us better.
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24. Will MediAngels ever sell or misuse my confidential data?
MediAngels uses your data to ensure better health care for you. Beyond that, your data is safe with us and will never be divulged to a third party without your prior information and consent.
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25. For how long will MediAngels store my consult details?
MediAngels will store all consults for a minimum of one year from the consult date. During this time, you will have access to these details through your MediAngels account. We might be able to make the consult available beyond this period as well, but you may have to pay a small processing fee for extending the validity period.
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26. Is the consultation to the viewers/patients a paid service? Or are you getting money from advertising on the web?
This is a paid service. We believe that quality medical care cannot be ensured philanthropically.. All the physicians associated with MediAngels have very lucrative careers and we have to ensure that this is worth their while.
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27. Does MediAngels recommend that I contact my virtual consultant in person for further care or surgery?
MediAngels is committed to providing credible, professional, specialized, ethical medical opinions from renowned specialists who are empanelled by invitation only. If you have been advised a surgery, you are free to get it done anywhere you wish. If you are very impressed and wish to follow-up independently with the MediAngels doctor in person, you can do so, but MediAngels will maintain its unbiased stance and would not encourage that. MediAngels will NOT furnish physicians’ contact information to the consumer or vice versa.
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28. Does MediAngels perform any philanthropic work as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility?
MediAngels has an extensive plan for charity and philanthropy. MediAngels also plans to make consults available at the District Health Center level in China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa on a philanthropic basis. As many as 50% of MediAngels physicians are part of this philanthropic initiative.
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