44% Patients Avoided an Unnecessary Surgery With a Second Opinion From MediAngels.com

MUMBAI, January 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Data from MediAngels.com has found an uncomfortable answer to questions like - Do you really need surgery? Will surgery really make you well and healthy? The answer has been quite bothersome for every family and every person, who has been asked to undergo surgery. Almost 44% of the 12,500 patients for whom surgery was recommended were advised against it by their chosen super-specialist doctors, from whom they sought a second opinion. This data was so relevant, that it was featured here, by Times of India, India's largest and most respected English newspaper (1^st page Times of India's coverage, all editions, Jan 4^th 2015).

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Unnecessary surgery is not new in medicine. Orthopaedic surgeons in the United States were, four months ago, accused of overdoing total knee replacement surgeries by almost a third. Closer home, doctors in Andhra Pradesh rampantly performed hysterectomies in 2010 to get a higher payoff from government medical insurance schemes.

MediAngels, the world's first online hospital, has 350 of the world's best doctors, from over 93 specialties and over 15 countries, as part of its elite physician network. You, the consumers, can use the Internet to access www.MediAngels.com, from wherever you are and seek an opinion on your condition, get blood tests done and store your medical records, all from the comfort of your home. The "by invitation" only, chosen physician network makes MediAngels arguably the most comprehensive medical panel across the world. While MediAngels was ostensibly set up to provide access to top quality healthcare, many patients around the world use the same to get a best-in-class second opinion, to get information and make informed decisions on their health. Medical information is invariably becoming important and critical because for a significant lot of us there is no second chance when it comes to medical care, really.

MediAngels.com recently studied its first 20,000 consultations over the past two years and found several people were advised "unnecessary surgeries" by their primary doctors. While evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and preferred practice protocols exist in a variety of specialties and subspecialties in medicine, consistent evidence suggests that adherence to guidelines may still remain poor. This data justifies the very reason why patients and doctors are increasingly seeking second opinions and online consults. The rate of diagnostic discrepancies has a huge human and financial impact.

Let us look at some of the key pointers from the MediAngels data and analyse what it means for all of us:

• 70% of MediAngels users were from the top 10 cities of India. 5% of MediAngels users were from the countries other than India, the USA, UK, Middle East and Africa being important geographies. 22% patients were referred by their treating physicians, or a physician they knew.
• Approximately 12,500 of the 20,000 patients sought opinions on surgery related cases - i.e. They had been suggested surgery and wanted to know if this was the only and/or the best choice for their health.
• Of the 12, 500 patients who sought surgery related second opinions, the second opinion provided in 44% of these patients suggested the surgery was unnecessary and there were more relevant, less invasive, treatment options available.

So, why was this the case? Why were so many patients advised surgery, when their physician peers (equally or better qualified) think that it was unnecessary?

Medicine is becoming more and more super-specialised, as a result of which it is difficult to have all specialties exclusively under a roof. Like for example, a few years ago, a MBBS doctor would perform a hydrocele surgery, however, today it would come under a general surgeon's domain exclusively.

Some patients who benefited from MediAngels.com:

• Kandivali resident Gaurav Sharma's uncle was advised cardiac surgery as he was having severe pain in his left shoulder. The surgery was about to happen the next day itself. He logged on to MediAngels and sought a second opinion from a cardiac Surgeon in Delhi who then went ahead and informed the patient that he only had an orthopaedic problem. Mr. Sharma then sought a second opinion from an Orthopaedic surgeon in the US, who diagnosed it to be a shoulder problem and recommended some exercises to provide him relief. Mr. Sharma's uncle avoided a surgery and his shoulder pain has reduced significantly.
• A patient from Patiala, who was suffering from urinary incontinence and recurrent urinary tract infection, sought a second opinion from a USA based paediatric urologist, who then advised him certain medications which relieved him from his "dribbling urine" problem.

Says Dr. Debraj Shome, a top facial plastic surgeon & Co-founder and CEO of MediAngels, who started MediAngels, post a personal health experience, "The best medical outcomes occur when you receive a diagnosis and treatment on your disease from a physician who has the most training and expertise in treating that disease. However, these super-specialist doctors are very are resources. And, one of the major problems is equitably distributing these specialist doctors all over the world."

Dr. Shome added, "Our data shows that maybe getting to the right doctor could make sure that these patients would have received the appropriate advice regarding their disease. As medicine becomes more and more super-specialised, medical outcomes improve. Another thing to remember is that doctors too come from the rest of society. If other professionals are making commercial decisions, doctors too are humans and some of us may do that. Hence, to protect your interests, it is always good for patients to seek a neutral, credible, second opinion. We even look at a second store, before buying a phone, why should our health then be any different?"

Clearly, a second opinion, if nothing else, may give you more confidence in the first opinion and keep your health in safe hands. So, go get a second medical opinion, what have you got to lose? The time has probably come to ask "Do I really need the surgery?" and "Will surgery really make me well?"

About MediAngels: 

Angels Health Pvt. Ltd. provides medical second opinion services under the brand name 'MediAngels'. MediAngels is the world's first online hospital, which was co-founded by Dr. Debraj Shome, who is one of the best facial plastic surgeons, and Dr. Arbinder Singal, who is one of the top pediatric urologists in India. MediAngels has been funded by HDFC Holdings Ltd (India's largest Private Equity firm), Followed by Technology Development Board (TDB - Government of India), and then by VenturEast(A top VC firm), in the last year.

Contact:

MediAngels,

Mumbai, India

Phone: +91-22-65341520

Email: [email protected]

http://www.mediangels.com/

Media Contact: Dr. Ketki Sapre, [email protected], +91-9619611031, Angels Health Pvt. Ltd.