Dr. Direct is a messaging service that is meant to facilitate communication between a physician and patient after a face-to-face consultation. The benefit and purpose of having this messaging service, is to assure a patient that the physician can be contacted even after the initial consultation and to avoid having an unnecessary and costly subsequent consultation.
The process starts by having a patient come in for a consultation. Once the physician has attended to the patient, the patient’s cell phone number and name would be captured on the system. The physician can now send an SMS with a unique link, that will allow the patient to send messages to the physician, that will be valid for a period determined by the physician.
Should a patient start developing symptoms that are concerning, the patient can click on the link and send a message to the doctor about it. The doctor will determine based on the description given in the message whether this warrants a telephonic conversation or is urgent enough for another face-to-face consultation.