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Medical profession goes digital amid coronavirus pandemic, changes could stay

April 7, 2020

Tend Director of Medical and Health Services Doctor Mataroria Lyndon explains how medical professionals use technology to diagnose patients.

It's predicted the future of healthcare could change for good even after the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

In the current sitution during the lockdown, medical centres throughout New Zealand have been told to reduce their number of in-person consultations by 70 per cent.

Tend Director of Medical and Healthservices doctor Mataroria Lyndon told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning he thinks the changes will remain.

He said a lot of diagnosing conditions was based off history and talking to patients about their sympoms, which can be done through phone or video calling.

"I think after the response to Covid-19, there will be more and more people who are familiar with having virtual consultations so I think things will change after Covid-19," Dr Lyndon said.

"A service like Tend is all about trying to provide convenience and access to care through technology.

"We're used to accessing a whole host of different services through our smartphone and we're seeing now with healthcare that this is another opportunity to be using technology to be able to improve access to care, video consults, telephone consults are another way to be able to access healthcare."

Dr Lyndon assured though that anyone who needed to be seen in person would be referred to a clinic.

He also urged people to make sure they seek help for any medical conditions or injuries if they feel the need to, including calling 111 in an emergency, their local GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116.

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