The Health Ministry’s practice of providing online video examinations option to COVID-19 patients isolated at home helps the country to prevent possible violations of quarantine. More than 10,000 patients have benefited from the system since 2020, health authorities say.

The telehealth system was first launched in four provinces, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul in September 2020 before it went nationwide last January. Patients can book online appointments if they test positive or have come in contact with a positive case and are required to self-isolate. Patients are sent text messages containing links for video calls. Patients can also opt for voice calls instead.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Şuayip Birinci said they planned to make the system available for all patients after the pandemic and are working on improving the technical infrastructure.

“This is a system the other countries are working on as well but none could manage to implement it on such a large scale as we did,” Birinci told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Thursday. He said the system was established in the first days of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time marked by constant curfews.

The ministry tested the system on health care personnel first. “Health care workers were under a serious burden during the pandemic. They had to cope with a rising number of patients. They had to stay away from their families. We arranged online interviews for them with psychiatrists. Then, we used the same system for families with children with special needs who needed similar support as they were not allowed to leave home during curfews. Finally, we based it on our experience in this telehealth system and made it available for all citizens who are in self-isolation,” he said.

Video appointments offer examination in many branches of medicine and the most popular so far have been internal medicine, psychiatry, children’s diseases and physical therapy. Currently, the telehealth system is limited to certain doctors in certain hospitals but the Health Ministry plans to make it more widespread. “The system is good especially for people with health conditions which do not require a physical examination. In cases where the doctors feel the need for closer examination, they can invite the patients to the hospital for further diagnosis work,” he said.

Dr. Erhan Eken, an internal medicine specialist at Professor Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital in Istanbul is among those doctors responding to video appointments. He heaped praise on Turkey's telehealth system which "made our patients in self-isolation not to feel alone."

“We have an opportunity to better diagnose their symptoms and coordinate potential hospitalizations. It is extremely helpful especially for timing the hospitalizations,” he says, arguing that people now can save time by not visiting hospitals at times they may not require a physical examination. “Of course, an online examination cannot replace an in-person examination,” he added.

Eken said the added bonus to the system was the messaging application, which is particularly helpful for communicating with patients with hearing impairment. Patients can also share photos of medical imaging they had earlier with their doctor or show them the drugs they have been prescribed in the past.

He said that people mostly sought online appointments to counsel doctors on whether their existing chronic illnesses would be aggravated when they are infected with COVID-19. “They ask our opinion, ask if they should continue taking drugs for their chronic illnesses while in self-isolation for coronavirus,” he said.