Perspective: Gynecologists actually can see patients online. Here’s how and when.
Thanks to telemedicine, even at the height of the pandemic, I could review patients’ histories, address their more immediate health problems, discuss other relevant clinical information, renew or change their prescriptions, and email them an order for a yearly mammogram or a bone density test. They could print these documents and take them to any test facility near them, with the results promptly faxed to me.
The best uses of telemedicine in gynecology are for menopausal consultation, suspected urinary tract infections, renewal of oral contraceptives, treatment of vaginal yeast infections and consultation for premenstrual syndrome, said Cynthia Abraham, an associate professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Several months ago, a woman I’d been treating for decades called complaining of intermittent vaginal bleeding several years after menopause. I referred her to a colleague’s office for evaluation and treatment. But she was unvaccinated against covid-19 and decided to wait several months before finally seeing the doctor. When she finally made it in for a visit, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.