East is East and West is West

07/22/2011 at 1:15 am Vijay Vaishnav 17 comments

….. however the twain shall meet (with apologies to Rudyard Kipling).

I have recently had the unusual experience of making East and West meet in my homeopathic practice. Having been called away from India to the US on urgent business, I was left with no option but to be available to my patients in the clinic half way across the world using Skype video call.

My first session was filled with trepidation since I was not sure how well this would work and how it would be received by my patients in my consulting room in India. However, as the patients came in one by one at their appointed time, I realised that technology has made us global citizens- or rather it had made me a global consultant.

With my able assistant available in the office to receive the patients’ case history and examine them, it became really easy to prescribe remotely. To my surprise, the patients were also receptive to this ‘arrangement’ and were very happy that they were actually able to see me and talk to me and did not have to rely on a locum for their treatment. They were even able to get homeopathic treatment for their acute complaints from their doctor who was far, far away.

My assistant who is a fully qualified registered homeopath is still on a learning curve and I have also been able to ‘teach’ her the intricacies of homeopathic prescribing through web conferencing. I can share files from my computer through Skype and so it has been easy to open my trusted homeopathic software and share my screen with her to let her know why I prescribed a certain remedy.

This method of practice has opened up great opportunities- I am now available for ‘face to face’ consultations online with clients from all over the US and also from other countries. With Google+ now offering upto 10 video conferences at the same time, I can see great possibilities in my practice. My wife and I can work with a patient at the same time- and the patient lives happily ever after.

The only flip side for me- India being half way across the world means that my sleep pattern in the US has been modified.

However, if I can help my patients with my skills even when I am thousands of miles away, I think the sleep deprivation is justified.

For homeopathic consultation for your symptoms you may visit Homeopathic Healing or send an e-mail to office@drvaishnav.com to meet the Homeopathic Specialists.

Masala Homeopathy (homeopathicure.wordpress.com)

Entry filed under: Alternative medicine, Health, Homeopathy. Tags: acute prescribing homeopathy, Alternative medicine, Google +, homeopathic consultation, Homeopathic Healing, homeopathic practice, Homeopathy, online consultation homeopathy, online homeopathic treatment, Skype, Skype video call, video conference.

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17 Comments Add your own

1. Dr prabhat tandon | 07/22/2011 at 2:17 am

One of the positive thing is that eases the doctor’s routine life. Normally a busy physician has no life for himself &for his family . Now thanks to such modern technology this too give benefit to both pt & drs.

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2. neeta | 07/22/2011 at 3:36 am

One more reason why Rudyard Kipling was so wrong. Good luck with your new venture neighbor. If I have seen ,one set of people who are extremely tech-phobic it is health care professionals, but you are technologically “keeping a finger on the pulse”. Kudos !!

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3. Nayan | 07/22/2011 at 3:42 am

excellent work keep it up Vijay.

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4. Monica | 07/22/2011 at 6:06 am

This is great Vijay. My experience with long distance treatment from you when in Singapore had also been a good experience but this is real cool. It would also help all to beat traffic and help consult from home when you are in Mumbai :-). now you only need to figure out a way for all to have access to your wonder medicine without coming to your clinic.!

All the best-great work!

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5. Kanit and Champa Patel | 07/22/2011 at 8:00 am

We are better of with you and your family being in USA and I say this knowing that you and your wife are very dedicated in helping people no metter where they live and what time of the day they need help. I wish you both and your family all the best while you make USA you home.

Good Luck

Kanti and Champa

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6. partho63 | 07/22/2011 at 9:20 pm

Vijay,

True use of technology …it is guys like you who are making the world flat. I am sure you will realize that there are several other features available like forming a discussion group etc. which can be done through G+.

Perhaps you would like to introduce a new chapter ( cousre) in Electronic Homeopathy for the new doctors.

Partha.

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7. Dr, Sukhen Dey | 07/23/2011 at 9:13 pm

This is a classic case of Dr. Vijay’s efforts to introduce the need and foundation of Health Information Technology in alternative medicine such as Homeopath. Allow me to quote from one of my presentations: “In the U.S., there is a significant initiative to implement Health Information Technology (HIT) based systems, for practices and procedures in patient care, with objectives to improve quality of healthcare delivery, reduce medical errors and to reduce skyrocketing cost of healthcare. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new rules that will reward physicians and hospitals for the “meaningful use” of electronic health records. Over the next 10 years, health care providers could receive up to $27 billion to computerize medical records. The health care industry has been slow to replace paper records. Starting in 2015, there will be financial penalties under Medicare for not using electronic health records. This seminar provides a broad overview of the state of world healthcare as well as emerging Health Information Technologies that are being deployed or developed to face healthcare challenges. The focus is how we can manage the complexities with advances in HIT and deploy various components of Health Information Technology to improve quality of care. ”

I truly wish the Health Information Technology literacy, initiatives and infrutructure are supported by the Health Ministory of India to help the Homeopath sector in India as we are finding in the US:

Based on my own analysis:

1. Over 40% of the patient population in India use homeopath treatment at least once in 3-5 years. That is over 200 million patients.
2. Homeopath has been proven as the most effective treatment protocolol for choric deases if they are applied at an early stage of the desease. There is a significant application of Homeopath in Germany, Austria and many parts of Europe as well as Canada.
3. There appears to be a significant outcome relation with the administration of Homeopath medicine and patient medical, family history. These are typical elements of an Electronic Health Record.
4. Last but not least, Homeopathic medication undergoes signifcantly lesser incidences of medication errors which is a an epidemic on the rise for Allapethic tratments all over the world. In the US alone, over 200,000 experience death every year because of medication errors. Utilizing tele-medicine technology, Homeopath would be I presume a much safer protocol to follw for expanded patient reach in countries such as India and rural parts of the world.

Thase are my observations. Hope some of these incidences incluence the health ministry in India to take a hard look at supporting Homeopathic Practices and Clinical Education. Dr. Dey

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- 8. Dr. Vijay Vaishnav | 07/23/2011 at 10:08 pm
  
  Dr. Dey,
  Your comment shows the deep insight you have in the field of HIT based systems.
  In India, homeopathy is legal and approved by an act of Parliament. There is a separate body under the Ministry of Health and Family welfare- the dept. of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy) that takes care of the alternative systems of medicines being practiced in India. The Central Council for Research in Homeopathy- CCRH (another government body) plays an active role in showcasing scientific homeopathy.
  
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9. Rupam Pattani | 07/24/2011 at 4:13 am

Tech surely has improved lot of things .The excitement and fun u must have had in the initial sessions is something which cannot be described in words. Wishing u success once again

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10. Nancy Vaishnav | 07/24/2011 at 2:28 pm

With all the side effects from traditional medicines it’s good to know that homeopathy is becoming more accessible to people all over the world thanks to technology.

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11. Kirti | 07/30/2011 at 11:07 pm

Vijay,

This is very interesting. Good to know it has been so helpful to your patients..

Kirti

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12. Patrick H | 07/30/2011 at 11:49 pm

Vijay: This is an exciting report you give of cross-continent practice of homeopathy. We’ve talked about using such a system for clinical teaching at the American Medical College of Homeopathy. I’m delighted to hear that it has gone well for you already with private patients. The next step for us is to make sure that we can include students in different locations while protecting patient confidentiality. (If you know anyone who has Google+, I’d appreciate an invitation to use it!)

Patrick.

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13. Todd Rowe | 07/31/2011 at 12:05 am

Thank you Vijay. This I believe is the way of the future. Although online technology will never replace face to face medical care, it increasingly is becoming an important and viable alternative. It is also increasingly useful in homeopathic education. The quality of the technology is finally sufficient to be able to provide quality alternatives for both patients and students alike.

Warmly,

Todd Rowe

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14. Fiona T | 07/31/2011 at 12:12 am

This is so exciting, I have linked you in my Blog too. Thanks for your supportive comments too. Our world is indeed shrinking! http://mypaperlessphd.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/our-shrinking-world/

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15. Dr, Sukhen Dey | 07/30/2011 at 8:44 pm

I found a very good reference to Homeopath and Sport Medicine. Frank J. King, Jr., ND, DC states “Homeopathy offers fast, safe, and all-natural results for athletic injuries, muscle enhancement, and sports performance issues, and brings new tools to enhance your quality of healthcare services. People are embracing homeopathic products in record numbers because the remedies are safe, effective, and provide specifically targeted alternatives to allopathic medications and steroids.” http://www.chiroeco.com/chiropractic/news/4414/797/homeopathy-a-smart-alternative-for-athletes-/
As all of you know the Federal Government and the HHS has a wide spread plan to deploy grants towards betterment of the overall healthcare delivery by motivating physicians to use Electronic Health Records, apps and mobile devices. Although I am not very clear about ONC’s plan to extend funds to alternative medicine and homeopathy practices, I strongly feel – homeopathy has been one of the oldest and reliable form of medicine which has always been based on integrated healthcare and a longitudinal history of patient medical incidences, family history, allergies and drug interactions. That is the primary reason why homeopathy is based on “root cause” analysis and a care model for least probable medication side effects. Sport medicine, physical and occupational therapy related discomforts require a long term treatment protocol with associated with systematic longitudinal data. I hope the American Academy of Clinical Homeopathy (AACH) or a similar organization makes a strong case towards training, deployment and use of Health Information Technology in Homeopathy with additional government grants and also incorporating Electronic Health Record training in all Homeopathy programs and curriculum. This is truly where modern technology needs to meet with evidenced based alternative medicine.
Dr.Dey

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16. fkulzim | 08/06/2011 at 11:14 pm

Great post. I especially found it useful where you state about this one. I agtee with u doc. Between east and west have many different espesially about disiace profil. because many of disease trend in the world have indirectly have relation with culture. It means many factor can influence the incidence of disease. Is thats true doc?

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17. Dipti Brahmane | 01/02/2012 at 9:14 am

Hi…!i have been your patient ever since i can remember. when u decided to shift base, i was extremely worried about finding a locum. This new use to technology has relieved me off the stress of worrying about my heath now that u are up for sleep deprivation… C u soon.. 🙂

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