Kirti was super excited as her mother was coming to her house, since she started working with Accenture in Bangalore, for the first time. She was flying down from Indore just to get a check-up done by some well-known doctor for her recurring breathing issues and chest pains.
She had only been working a month and was on probation, so taking leave was out of the question. Thus she asked her very good friend to pick her mother up from the airport and bring her home. The doctor’s appointment was on the same day in the evening and Kirti had decided to leave slightly early from the office.
Training sessions were going on in the office and today’s went longer than usual, which in turn delayed Kirti and she could not leave early.
When she did leave, she was unable to find a cab to go home. It took her 20 minutes to find one. Every minute was precious as the appointment time was nearing and the doctor they had to see didn’t give appointments out easily. One would have to wait for a month or so to get an appointment as he had that many patients who always wanted to consult with him.
The cab arrived and Kirti got in and called her mother to tell her to be ready so that they can leave as soon as she got home, preferably in the same cab as she was heading home in. Her mother confirmed this and hung up.
Kirti sat back and thought at the current time predictions as per Google Maps, she will get home in 20 minutes, to the doctor’s from there will take another half an hour so they will be about 15 minutes delayed for their appointment. She closed her eyes for a few minutes but dozed off. It had been a hectic day at work and she was very tired.
She woke up in a daze and looked at her watch. She had been asleep for 25 minutes. She panicked to grab her bag and ask her driver how close they were to the first stop. The driver said it will take another 15 minutes. This shocked Kirti as she expected to be a lot closer. They were stuck in a lot of traffic and the driver explained that they hadn’t moved much in the last half an hour.
Kirti fished out her phone from the bag and saw several missed calls from her mother. In all the hurry she had forgotten that she had put the phone on vibrate for the training and never switched it back to ringing mode. She immediately called her mother back and said that it will take her some more time in the traffic and she will be home soon.
It took her another half an hour to get home and by the time they reached the doctor’s, they were well over an hour late for their appointment. But Kirti’s mother was in town only for two days and this appointment was the crux of her visit. Kirti spoke to the doctor’s receptionist who said they have patients booked for another hour and Kirti will just have to wait for that much longer before they can see the doctor.
In about an hour and a half, they met the doctor who prescribed Kirti’s mother with daily tablets and said she should come back for a follow up a week later. Kirti explained to the doctor that her mother had traveled from Indore and a follow up would mean another trip.
The doctor suggested that they book an online doctor consultation through Docty, then Kirti’s mother will be able to make the appointment online through video consultation, sitting in from Indore only.
He said she might have to get some blood tests done and upload the reports online for him to consider. Kirti breathed a sigh of relief and said all of that can be managed.
On the way back home, her mother said she doesn’t trust these modern methods. “How can the doctor see me on video and assess my condition?” she asked. Kirti said that a lot of people were doing this nowadays and considering the doctor had only suggested this, they should trust him.
One week later, Kirti’s mother called her up and said the online doctor consultation went well. She said, Monu, the neighbor’s son, helped her login and upload all documents, just like Kirti had said he will be able to help.
Kirti was very happy that people were building products like Docty which made life more convenient and easy for patients seeking medical care under different scenarios.
She realized that even if her mother was staying with her and wanted to see the doctor, Docty would save them a lot of time and money. Here will be no traveling hassle and time issues. Unless the doctor had to physically examine the patient, in which case they could go visit the doctor.
