Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Why an online opinion can be so helpful for IVF patients


I receive lots of requests for second opinions on our website , and I'm happy to provide inputs to help infertile couples to complete their families. A lot of patients worry about the quality of my opinion , and for many people , the concept of  an online second opinion, which comes from someone whom you've never seen or met can be a bit challenging. Most traditional medical consultations are done face to face, which is how trust is created. Why would anyone be willing to trust an online opinion from someone who's faceless, someone whom they've never met?

I actually think an online second opinion could perhaps be better than one which your personal doctor provides you face to face. For one thing, my opinion is in black and white, which means I need to be careful . I make sure that I've reviewed all your reports carefully and given you a balanced opinion. After all, if I don't do so , I'll look like a fool when you share my opinion with your present doctor, and that's one thing I definitely don't want to allow to happen. In a consultation, on the other hand, the doctor will often take shortcuts because he is rushed, and you are never sure whether he has evaluated you properly or not.  Also, I cannot overpromise or say something incorrect, because I am writing stuff down. However, in the four walls of a clinic, your doctor may make all kinds of tall promises  whichyou have no way of verifying because you're forced to trust him.

Also, because there is no way of your knowing how good or bad I am , you're very likely to counter check whatever I tell you . This will increase your ability to become a smarter, more educated patient ! If you verify everything I say independently of what I tell you your trust in me will actually increase if it all checks out. A second opinion also provides you with a different perspective, which perhaps may help you think of alternative options which your doctor may have overlooked , or may not be able to offer you.

I have no axe to grind. I have no vested interest. You're not my patient. I'm not treating you which means I can tell you what I think is right for you. I can offer you non-medical options and less expensive alternative options, whereas your doctor may have a hidden agenda when he's guiding you. Most importantly, I can provide you with links to information which you can read, so that you can learn to ask your own doctor more intelligent questions . This will ensure you are in a better position to make a decision which is right for you, and you can combine my inputs with your doctor's, so you can craft a plan that works well for you.

Finally, my second opinion is free. How could there possibly be a downside to getting a free second opinion from an IVF specialist who's happy to help you complete your family because this is my professional mission in life? I'm not saying that my opinion is always right or that it's necessarily better. All I'm saying is it's usually carefully thought out because I have so many years of experience , and I can have an intelligent conversation with you by email.

While this is not a face to face conversation , often a continuing conversation by email is far better , because everything is documented. You are forced to think about your questions carefully, and I formulate my answers carefully . This helps you to make sure that you're on the right path.

What do I get out of this? One, of course, is the satisfaction that I'm helping someone with no vested interest . However, it also helps me to become sharper, better informed and better read because I now have patients who are providing me copies of their medical records from all over the world.  This allows me to " see " an extremely wide variety of patients - far more than I could ever do in real life , face to face. This means the cumulative experience which I have acquired because of these free online second opinions I offer is far more than lots of other busy IVF  doctors who restrict their practice to only seeing patients in their clinic. Patients who ask me for an opinion are obviously web savvy, technologically proficient and well educated, which means that I also learn a lot from them. This is a great win-win situation.

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !




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