Telemedicine, also known as telehealth, improves access to healthcare without being physically present at a healthcare facility. Over digital devices with an internet connection, people can speak with a doctor and get all the help they need. Although introduced in the late 1950s, the need and use of telehealth services recently peaked during the Covid-19 […]
Pregnancy is marked with several symptoms. However, it is important to know that while certain symptoms are "normal", others are cause for alarm. Telemedicine in prenatal care helps bridge the gap and save time during emergencies. You can get in touch with a virtual physician before you book an appointment with your local OB doctor. […]
Rapid Antigen Tests for COVID-19: How Do I Choose? The other day I went online to order an at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT). The number of options was mind-boggling! How are people supposed to choose? Are they just picking the cheapest test? Or the one at the top of the list? Unfortunately, not all […]
Long Covid Questions & Answers: First off, a disclaimer; anyone reading this will surely know that our understanding of long COVID is in its nascency. Many of these answers are a ‘best guess’ based on today’s data and will doubtless change over time as more information becomes available. What is long covid and how is […]
Sometimes being a woman seems unfair. Case in point: have you ever been accused of having PMS? PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome. Most have heard the term and may have used it jokingly when a woman’s emotions were high, casually alluding to the fact that her moodiness must be from imbalanced hormones during her menstrual […]
Telemedicine is the practice of using digital technology to provide care remotely. To ensure telemedicine in prenatal care is possible, accessible, and effective, there are several pieces of equipment that you may need. While there are several types of telemedicine including store-and-forward, real-time, and remote monitoring, real-time telemedicine is the most common and used. Real-time […]
The pandemic opened the door to broader use of virtual healthcare. Whether it was fear or a deliberate attempt to reduce the risk of a Covid-19 infection, the shift to telemedicine in the healthcare sector was welcomed by healthcare professionals, patients, and stakeholders. As the search to access and deliver health care became frantic, several […]
Did you know that every year nearly 700 women die from pregnancy-related complications in the United States? Even more shockingly, over 450 of these annual deaths are preventable! Being aware of serious complications that women face during pregnancy and postpartum is critical to saving lives. To support this mission to save lives, the CDC has […]
If It’s Not COVID-19, What Else Might Be Causing My Symptoms? You’ve had a cough and sniffles for over a week. COVID-19 rapid antigen and PCR tests were negative. What else might be causing your symptoms? Although we’ve all become acutely aware of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus which causes COVID-19, other coronaviruses have been with us […]
The Office on Women’s Health (OWH), a division of the US Department of Health & Human Services, has found that nearly 20% of women of childbearing age are douching. What’s the big deal? These women may not realize that douching can be potentially damaging to their health and the practice is not recommended by OBGYNs. […]
Prenatal care is focused, not only on the health of the mother but also on that of the growing fetus. Fetal monitoring is an integral part of prenatal care, done in pregnancy and labor. Also known as fetal heart rate monitoring, it is a procedure carried out by trained care providers including Obstetricians, nurses, and […]
Rapid Antigen COVID-19 Tests: Update on Authorized and Unauthorized Tests Rapid antigen tests (RATs) provide a cost-effective and convenient way to screen for COVID-19 in the comfort of your own home. A simple kit, complete with a nasal swab, solution, and easy-to-read result tray, can provide a quick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when you are wondering […]
Every girl is taught from a very young age that wiping after using the bathroom should always occur from front to back. But for some women, that’s as far as the vaginal health lesson goes. One piece of evidence that supports that we need better vaginal health education is that one in five women in […]
Diabetes in pregnancy or gestational diabetes is a condition in pregnancy where your blood sugar levels become abnormally high in pregnancy. About 3-10% of pregnant women in the United States get diagnosed with gestational diabetes each year. Diabetes, if not promptly and properly managed, can result in complications for both mother and child. Diabetes in […]
The Cost of COVID-19 Testing: To date, the U.S. government has funded a huge COVID-19 relief effort, including covering the cost of medically indicated COVID-19 testing for Americans with and without health insurance under the CARES Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, respectively. In March 2022, however, the House passed a federal spending […]
Healthcare delivery in recent times has become safer and more convenient with the advent of telemedicine. However, the success of telehealth may be shaky because of increased security and privacy risks associated with it. In this post, we will discuss the possible cybersecurity risks associated with telemedicine and what telemedicine companies, particularly My Virtual Physician, […]
COVID-19 Rapid Tests: An Update What is a rapid test?: An antigen-based COVID-19 test, often called a rapid test, can be purchased over the counter (online or in a pharmacy) and taken at home. It works by searching for protein pieces of the COVID-19 virus. Depending on the test, either a sample from the nose […]
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities were already met with a shortage of human and material resources to provide care. With four million women seeking prenatal care annually in the United States, the healthcare system without adequate resources is bound to experience huge gaps in the access and delivery of prenatal care. One of these […]
Non-oral COVID-19 Treatment Options in the Outpatient Setting The proliferation of treatment options for SARS-CoV-2 can be seen as one of the success stories of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are at high risk of hospitalization may be eligible for treatment with non-oral medications which have received FDA […]
Prenatal care has evolved and can be provided to pregnant women and their babies from the comfort of their homes. Care is accessed via digital devices such as smartphones, iPads, and laptops via audio and video calls, text messaging, and other forms of chatting. This defines telemedicine in prenatal care. While telemedicine in prenatal care […]
Did you know that if the entire population of the United States was tested for sexually transmitted infections today, about 20% would test positive? That’s what was found in a 2018 study of the top eight STIs. The top 8 include: HPV HSV-2 Trichomoniasis Chlamydia HIV Gonorrhea Syphilis HBV In lockstep with the CDC releasing […]
Oral Antiviral Treatments for COVID-19 Two years into the global pandemic, antiviral pills have emerged as a new therapeutic option. In late December of 2021, the FDA gave emergency use authorization (EUA) to two oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19: Paxlovid (Pfizer Inc.) and molnupiravir (Merk & Co). These hotly anticipated medications are intended for use […]
The Covid-19 pandemic and technological advancement in healthcare delivery have introduced telemedicine in prenatal care. It might seem that telemedicine is here to stay and in a few years, will become a major approach in delivering health care to pregnant women. With telemedicine, expecting mothers receive consistent and necessary care via videoconferencing, at-home monitoring, and […]
How to Avoid Fake Covid-19 Tests Ongoing supply shortages of COVID-19 tests have spawned a new online market for scammers: fake COVID-19 tests. Shady companies are taking advantage of increased consumer demand to sell faux at-home test kits online. If you do unwittingly use a fake COVID-19 test and receive a false negative result, you […]
