FAQ
What is remote consultation?
Delivered in the form of text or video, overseas consultants providing professional second opinion based on patient’s medical history and reports as a reference to patient’s attending physician.
What are the advantages of remote consultation?
Teleconsultation not only provides professional consultant‘s second opinion on diagnosis, treatment directions and treatment plan accommodations based on the clinical needs of individual case, but also offers convenience and tangible cost to clients.
1) Guide Treatment Direction: When clients having difficulty in treatment options, remote consultation can provide patients with valuable second opinion on diagnosis and treatment plan to help determine the treatment direction and enhance the treatment effect;
2) Offer Personalized Treatment Plan: Due to the regional imbalance on medical resources, client is able to access to valuable clinical advices and potential treatment options from a foreign specialist through telemedicine consultation;
3) Efficiency: Client does not need to travel abroad to seek for medical advices, the client can receive the advice of overseas experts at home or in MDT Conference Room at Shanghai Circle Harmony Clinic through remote access;
4) Tangible Cost: In comparison to the cost for direct medical referral to foreign country, the cost of remote consultation is relatively tangible and affordable.
Who is the suitable clientele for remote consultation?
The suitable clientele including but not limited to clients whom:
1) Wish to receive a second opinion from foreign consultants;
2) Dissatisfied with the current treatment plan outcome;
3) Need medical advice on surgical treatment;
4) Has adverse side-effect with current treatment;
5) Has medical disagreement on current treatment plan;
6) Has insufficiency on current treatment plan;
7) Is challenged to afford overseas medical cost.
What types of teleconsultation services does Circle Harmony offer?
Consultation method: written second opinion; video teleconsultation.
Consultation services: single disciplinary consultation; multi-disciplinary team (MDT) consultation.
Consultation program: domestic consultation (with grade A tertiary hospital consultants); international consultation (with foreign specialty consultant).
What is the patient journey for teleconsultation service?
Domestic Second Opinion/Teleconsultation:
1) Medical records collection: customers upload required medical records;
2) Initial consultation with Circle Harmony physician;
3) Summary of medical records: Circle Harmony physician complies personalized “Summary of Medical Records” and creates “Circle Harmony Account” for clients;
4) Multidisciplinary consultation: conducting remote teleconsultation with two or more consultants from different medical specialties (consultants from grade A tertiary hospitals with associate chief physician level or above);
5) Consultation report: feedback of written report from consultants within 3 working days after the consultation;
6) Follow-up: post-consultation follow up from Circle Harmony physician.
International Second Opinion/Teleconsultation:
1) Medical records collection: customers upload required medical records;
2) Initial consultation with Circle Harmony physician;
3) Summary of medical records: Circle Harmony physician complies personalized “Summary of Medical Records” and creates “Circle Harmony Account” for clients;
4) Domestic specialist consultation: consultation or teleconsultation with domestic specialist (consultants from grade A tertiary hospitals with associate chief physician level or above);
5) Medical reports translation: Circle Harmony physician translate medical reports, combined with suggestions from domestic specialist consultation;
6) Selection of foreign consultant(s): Circle Harmony physician match one or more foreign consultant(s) based on clinical needs;
7) International teleconsultation: discussion between foreign consultant(s) and domestic specialist(s) on clinical advices through teleconsultation;
8) Consultation report: a translated written report combined suggestions from both sides of consultants within 5 working days after the international teleconsultation;
9) Follow-up: post-consultation follow up from Circle Harmony physician.
How long does it take to complete an international teleconsultation?
Once collected and submitted patient completed medical summary to the selected hospital/consultant(s), depending on the complexity of the case, it usually takes 10 working days (Domestic Teleconsultation) and 15 working days (International Teleconsultation) to complete the journey.
Why travel overseas for treatment?
For patients with general illness, overseas treatment usually provides better patient experience and seamless care plan; for patients with critical illness, it simply means a better chance to improve prognosis and increase survival rate by offering personalized and comprehensive clinical suggestions with top medical resource.
Who is the suitable clientele for overseas treatment?
The suitable clientele including but not limited to clients whom:
1) Uncertainty on diagnosis;
2) Disagreement on treatment and diagnosis;
3) Complex diagnosis, lack of clinical treatment offer;
4) High-risk on surgery;
5) Insufficient treatment;
6) Irreparable side effect from treatment;
7) Seeking for clinical trials;
8) Seeking for comprehensive healthcare resource;
What are the advantages of seeking treatment overseas?
1) Determine on Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the basis for treatment outcomes. The premise of an effective treatment is an accurate pathological diagnosis. However, current development of pathological technology or its standardized use in diagnosis is still immature. On the contrary, in countries with more developed medical resources, such as the UK and the US, pathology is the medical standard for determining diagnosis of serious diseases, especially cancer.
2) Multidisciplinary Team Consultation (MDT)
In China, most clinical suggestions and actions are decided and delivered by ONE doctor. However, for many critical diseases, the medical conditions are complex and usually need to involve multiple specialties. In countries with more advanced medical resources, the attending doctor will organize a multidisciplinary team meeting with consultants from different specialties discussing based on the patient’s clinical needs to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of treatment plan; for example, for a cancer patient, in addition to oncologists, the MDT team would usually Include physicians, surgeons (if the treatment plan involves surgery), pharmacists, pathologists, radiologists and other suitable clinical professionals to evaluate the treatment results and recommend clinical plans for patients, this is what we call a Multidisciplinary Team Consultation”, also known as MDT.
3) Personalized Treatment Plan
Each clinical case has its own uniqueness. In countries with more developed medical resources, such as the UK or the US, a team of consultants will develop a personalized treatment plan for each client. Many clients have received positive treatment outcomes by changing on treatment plan, administration method, dosage adjustment and many other medical aspects from overseas medical providers.
4) Access to Novel Medicine Options
The launch of new drugs (especially ones for critical illness) in China usually lags behind medical advanced countries for a while, but for critically ill patients, the early access to new medicine can be a life changing opportunity.
5) Clinical Trials
For cancer patients receive minimum treatment effect with market-available drugs and therapies, participating in clinical trials may be their last straw. Every day, there are hundreds of clinical trials undertaking in Sarah Cannon Research Institute, offering life-changing opportunities to clients who meet trial enrollment requirements.
6) Quality in Service, Humanity and Other Components.
What is the patient journey for overseas medical referral?
Circle Harmony overseas medical referral patient journey includes:
1) Initial Consultation: clients upload required medical documents and consulting with Circle Harmony physician;
2) Case Summary of Medical Records: Circle Harmony physician complies personalized “Summary of Medical Records” and creates “Circle Harmony Account” for clients;
3) Domestic Specialist Consultation: consultation or teleconsultation with domestic specialist (consultants from Grade A tertiary hospitals with associate chief physician level or above);
4) Medical Documents Translation: Circle Harmony physician translate and upload medical documents, combining with suggestions from;
5) Selection of Foreign Consultant(s): Circle Harmony physician match one or more foreign consultant(s) based on clinical needs;
6) International Teleconsultation: discussion between foreign consultant(s) and domestic specialist(s) on referral determination through teleconsultation;
7) Assistance on Medical Visa Application: admission confirmation, providing hospital invitation letter or/and hospital admission letter to assist client with visa application;
8) Trip Assistance: providing 10 hours of professional medical translator services(5hr/each time, additional translation service is available with rate);
9) Airport Pick-up Service: providing one-time free airport pick-up and drop-off service at the destination city (additional chauffer service is available with rate);
10) Trip Planning (accommodation booking – hotel, flight, chauffer, translation, etc) is available with rates;
11) Post-treatment Follow-up: Circle Harmony physician closely follow up with clients within 12 weeks after treatment;
12) Overseas Attending Physician Follow-up (Upon Request): depending on client’s condition, Circle Harmony can provide follow-up teleconsultation service with client’s overseas attending physician within 3 months after treatment.