29 March 2010
New Delhi, India
NIAZ HUSSAIN (name changed) has been looking for a doctor to cure his father’s heart ailment. While Hussain is based in Cyprus, his father is a resident of Bangladesh and most doctors advised Hussain that the surgery required for his father can only be conducted in the United States.
That was when Hussain turned to the Internet.
“My first reaction was to check on the Internet about the disease, the cure and the treatment available. Through a website run by a doctor who specialised in aortic surgery, I got to know that treatment was available in India,” Hussain said.
The website www.aorticclinic.com is run by Dr Shiv Choudhary, additional professor in the Department of Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at AIIMS.
“This is the first interaction with the patient in which we look at the reports that patients email and tell them what can be done. This saves patients from a lot of running around,” Dr Choudhary said.
According to Dr Choudhary, the website helps patients with access to Internet research before visiting a hospital. “This has been a regular method in the West.
In India, it is slowly picking up, where patients use the Internet to find a doctor, check his credentials and double check the line of treatment being given to the patient. Empowering the patient is important and this website is a step in that direction,” he added.
The website, which is dedicated to aortic ailments – a highly specialised field under cardiac surgery, informs the patients about the tests required and the nearest centre where the treatment is available.
“If the patient lives in South India, I direct the family to take him to the nearest centre where treatment is available,” Dr Choudhary said.
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