Telephone consult

Posted by lorna813 @lorna813, May 20, 2016

Has anyone done a telephone consultation with a doctor? Is it possible?

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Hi @lorna813. Welcome to Connect! We are glad to have you. This is a great question. In the age of telemedicine, phone and video consults are becoming more and more common. They are certainly possible, and many doctors provide them. Are you considering this option? What kind of consult are you looking for?

Some types of consult are better suited for phone than others, and doctors typically prefer to have seen you in person at least once before offering that option. I'm tagging @rick537, @burrkay and @concernedmtnmom and who have posted about phone consults in the past and may be able to provide some additional insights. Hope this helps!

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@kelseydm

Hi @lorna813. Welcome to Connect! We are glad to have you. This is a great question. In the age of telemedicine, phone and video consults are becoming more and more common. They are certainly possible, and many doctors provide them. Are you considering this option? What kind of consult are you looking for?

Some types of consult are better suited for phone than others, and doctors typically prefer to have seen you in person at least once before offering that option. I'm tagging @rick537, @burrkay and @concernedmtnmom and who have posted about phone consults in the past and may be able to provide some additional insights. Hope this helps!

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It was my understanding doctors can't consult across State lines for legal reasons. For example, rather than visit with a doctor in New Orleans (a global specialist in neuroendocrine tumors) with my wife and I living in Wisconsin, I wanted to have a teleconference appointment. I had previously faxed all the necessary background information. I was told that he wasn't allowed to practice medicine across state lines. While we had met him previously in a conference, we hadn't had an office appt. with him. So... I guess I'm confused.

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Yes, my wife and I did a telephone consult with our Oncologist. He is in Jacksonville, and we are in South Carolina. He did order some blood to be drawn by our family provider and another test locally, then fedexed the info to the lab in Jacksonville.
That avoided us having to stay in Jacksonville for two-three weeks while they did the tests.
Hope this helps!

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@burrkay

Yes, my wife and I did a telephone consult with our Oncologist. He is in Jacksonville, and we are in South Carolina. He did order some blood to be drawn by our family provider and another test locally, then fedexed the info to the lab in Jacksonville.
That avoided us having to stay in Jacksonville for two-three weeks while they did the tests.
Hope this helps!

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P:S.- the consult was after the lab reports came back to him.

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I live in New York state, and I've had several phone consults from different Mayo Rochester specialties. When we set up the appointment, we just ensure to confirm which time based on our different times zones. The doctor always calls me.

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@kdubois

I live in New York state, and I've had several phone consults from different Mayo Rochester specialties. When we set up the appointment, we just ensure to confirm which time based on our different times zones. The doctor always calls me.

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Hi kdubois

I want to desperately have phone consult. Can you give me more details on how to set it up. Which number to call and I am based out of Nashville how will my insurance work . Thanks a lot in advance.

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@kdubois

I live in New York state, and I've had several phone consults from different Mayo Rochester specialties. When we set up the appointment, we just ensure to confirm which time based on our different times zones. The doctor always calls me.

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Hi @mayoclinicseeker ... I apologize for the delay in getting back to you.

You will most likely need to see them in person first. The phone consults I've had with my Mayo doctors were follow-up after in-person visits.

To see if your medical insurance will work, you can just call them. All you need to do is tell them your insurance info and they will tell you whether or not they accept your insurance. This page shows the phone numbers for their different locations: http://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/contact.

From what I have learned from speaking with Mayo employees, the fastest way to get an appointment with a specialist is to have your local physician refer you to a particular Mayo speciality. This is the part of their web site that has info for physicians who want to refer patients to them: http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals.

With that said, I called directly into a specialty department to get an appointment with my Mayo endocrinologist without a referral. (Mayo accepted me without a physician's referral and my medical insurer doesn't require a referral. All subsequent referrals in Mayo are done by my Mayo doctors referring to each other.)

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@burrkay

Yes, my wife and I did a telephone consult with our Oncologist. He is in Jacksonville, and we are in South Carolina. He did order some blood to be drawn by our family provider and another test locally, then fedexed the info to the lab in Jacksonville.
That avoided us having to stay in Jacksonville for two-three weeks while they did the tests.
Hope this helps!

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Thank you. The doctor we were working with in New Orleans (we are in Wisc) did order scans/blood work which was sent to him and ISI in CA. What he said he couldn't do was to have a telephone office appt (my words, not his) because I believe that constitutes practicing medicine across state lines. An office appt. would need to be in his office. I take him at his word. If anyone else knows if this is factual (or not), I would be interested. Being able to get 2nd or 3rd opinions without having to travel would be very helpful (energy, time, money).

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@kdubois

I live in New York state, and I've had several phone consults from different Mayo Rochester specialties. When we set up the appointment, we just ensure to confirm which time based on our different times zones. The doctor always calls me.

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Interesting. Do you consider a consult the same as an office appt. Obviously, if a physical exam is needed that wouldn't work, but if you are reviewing blood work/scans and next steps, it makes sense.

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@kdubois

I live in New York state, and I've had several phone consults from different Mayo Rochester specialties. When we set up the appointment, we just ensure to confirm which time based on our different times zones. The doctor always calls me.

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My wife was able to 'see' her Mayo specialist for follow-up, etc. using Mayo Virtual Visit once she was too incapacitated to travel. It was a fabulous tool.

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