There’s a new doctor in town who is using her experience in virtual medical care to open a walk-in (more like call-in) clinic.
Dr. Rasha Tawfik has launched eDoctorcare, offering virtual phone or video appointments for patients.
Tawfik qualified as a family physician in the UK in 2017, where she said the virtual healthcare model is more prevalent.
In the UK, anyone in need of medical consultation can call 111 to reach a team of clinicians including a family doctor for assessment, prescriptions, and advice. The service is available all the time, including evenings and weekends.
“This was working amazingly in the UK, and I thought it was something the people of Collingwood would benefit from,” said Tawfik.
She and her husband originally moved to the GTA from the UK in 2017, but a search for somewhere a little less busy led Tawfik and her husband to Collingwood and The Blue Mountains.
After finding space in the Admiral Building, she set up her virtual walk-in clinic. So far she’s the only family doctor involved, but as the clinic gets busier, she hopes to bring more in.
Eventually, she would like to open her clinic to in-person visits too.
“I’m hoping we can change the concept of how things can be done virtually,” said Tawfik. “I think a lot of patients still believe they have to physically be present in front of a doctor in order to get a full assessment. That’s not necessarily true.”
She can issue prescriptions and referrals where necessary.
“Of course there are times when you have to see a patient in-person,” said Tawfik, citing care such as injections, dressing changes, and abdominal exams as examples of appointments requiring face-to-face attention.
Because of gathering restrictions and a desire to reduce in-person visits, the province has made it easier for doctors to see their patients through virtual means, which many medical professionals and governing bodies predict will become a post-COVID trend.
“I think the pandemic has forced us to do a lot of things differently and think about new and more efficient ways of doing things,” said Tawfik.
She said with virtual care, she’s often able to take a better patient history and spend more time getting to the bottom of things, and there’s no waiting room full of patients.
Tawfik “invested heavily” in the technology required to offer online appointment booking and protecting patient information.
“Anyone can call, even if they have a family doctor,” she said. Though she does encourage people to go through their primary care providers for their health concerns.
“For various reasons, patients can sometimes find it difficult to get an appointment, or they have an issue that needs dealing with on the same day,” she said. “I can see them, and what I usually do is pass the information back to their family doctor.”
By offering evening and weekend appointment options and online booking, Tawfik hopes her work will help ease the burden on emergency rooms and reduce the queue at after-hours clinics that are often filled quickly.
“I’m trying to offer something supplemental that can help the community out in that regard,” said Tawfik.
She can see patients of any age, and the visits are covered by OHIP, as with any in-person walk-in clinic.
Patients can book online from anywhere in Ontario, though Dr. Tawfik is aiming to focus on the Collingwood area.
You’ll find the website and appointment booking information online at edoctorcare.com, and for those who don’t have access to the internet, you can call 647-556-2435.
