Topcatt launches NZ's first Virtual Doctor Service

Virtual doctor refers to the ability for patients to access healthcare via the web. We recently launched www.drbernardwillis.com for a former Epsom-based General Practitioner. This virtual doctor service allows patients to book and engage in online doctor appointments (currently handled via Skype) and receive medical care, advice, prescriptions, order tests, analyse test results and recommend treatment options – all from the comfort and privacy of their own home (or internet cafe as one client recently did). This type of service has been in the press lately as questions arise over the validity of this type of medical care. At www.drbernardwillis.com, Dr Willis usually requests blood tests or other pathology and has patients access their nearest facility to undertake the pathology. Patients are then able to submit these results via the website for review by Dr Willis. Repeat prescriptions and other common medical services are also able to be performed by a doctor that is registered for practice in several countries.

Dr Willis says the majority of patients using his service are suffering chronic illness and haven’t been able to achieve on-going care in this way before. It works quite well actually and is likely to be the way in which we practice medicine in the very near future!

As for the web portal, we integrated their appointment booking and patient record system, their accounting system, set up a Paypal payment gateway to handle credit card transactions and custom coded a timezone module for managing the issue around clients booking appointments in different timezones. The project had it’s own set of unique challenges and called for a significant amount of custom work; however, it runs very smoothly and Dr Bernard Willis is very happy with the result.