It may not be the most conventional way to see a doctor, but it may be the way of the future.
Two pharmacies in Kamloops are adding telemedicine capabilities to their locations to improve healthcare services in the city.
Telemedicine allows patients to have appointments with doctors via video chat.
Kipp-Mallery Pharmacy and Kleo’s Pharmacy Remedy’s RX have teamed up with Medview MD to provide the service.
“The doctors can do exams, write prescriptions, order blood work or do referrals. All of the same things if the doctor was in the room.” Kipp-Mallery owner Kristina Gifford said.
Gifford says the process is very similar to a real doctor’s office. A registered nurse will intake the patient, take their vitals and assist the doctor in the meeting. The room is equipped with the proper telemedicine equipment including a screen and camera, as well as a patient’s bed and regular medical tools. The physician will be a BC physician employed by Medview MD.
“It has a little waiting area. It’s a little doctor’s office in the pharmacy,” said Gifford. “We have such a doctor shortage that anything you can do to help out physicians who are overloaded helps everybody out.”
Gifford admits that having a doctor’s appointment over video chat isn’t the same having a physician in the same room, but the new technology will help many patients in Kamloops.
“Multiple times a day we have patients asking which physicians are taking patients and we usually just throw our hands up and say sorry because there’s no physicians taking patients,” Gifford said.
The telemedicine equipment will be set up at Kipp-Mallery sometime next week. Gifford hopes to have a grand opening of the office sometime in late March.
