There was a time when doctors actually went from house to house treating patients in the comfort of their own homes. But alas, in the U.S, house calls have become virtually extinct, having all but been replaced by in-person office or hospital consultations.  In-person consultations, by bringing patients in direct contact with their physician caregiver, go a long way towards personalizing the relationship between doctor and patient.  It works well in the majority of cases, but not for patients who seek specialized medical advice from a physician outside their area – as is often the case with IVF patients. It is relatively common for them to consider traveling outside of their geographic area for the best treatment.

Until recently, patients wanting to consult with a physician outside their area had two choices; the first was to travel, often over long distances (incurring additional cost, stress and inconvenience) to have a face-to-face visit with the specialist; the second was to consult by telephone, a rather impersonal process that denies complete interaction and thus prevents patients from completely evaluating their compatibility with the doctor. This is particularly important when patients are seeking a physician who will ultimately treat them for such a highly intimate and emotionally charged medical condition as infertility/reproductive failure.

Well…welcome to the 21st century, where technology now offers us a third option – the web-based video conference. This format now enables patients and their physician (or nurse) to interact via webcam in real-time for consultations.  While many medical specialty areas have taken advantage of “telemedicine” including dermatology, ophthalmology, mental health, cardiology and pathology (to name a few), it has as yet not gained a foothold in the arena of Reproductive Medicine.  Several months ago, SIRM became among the first fertility clinics in the world to offer live video consultations (free in many cases), through a portal on our website, www.haveababy.com.

The vast majority of my personal IVF practice consists of complicated and difficult cases that seek my care from diverse locations across the United States and abroad for complex issues such as repeated IVF failure, immunologic implantation dysfunction, diminished ovarian reserve and advanced maternal age. In the past I was only able to interact with such patients by telephone, unless they happened to live in Las Vegas or were traveling here. With a video consultation, it is like being in a room, face-to-face with them, which profoundly enhances the doctor-patient experience to the great benefit of all involved in the process.

In fact, without exception, the feedback suggests that this approach promotes a sense of personability, confidence and understanding. From my own personal perspective, I can testify that the introduction at SIRM of web-based video conferencing has transformed my ability to rapidly connect with them and assess them better….I just love it! Several other SIRM physicians have also embraced this communication method for their out-of-town patients and hopefully, in the near future, all will apply this fantastic approach.

Scheduling a video consultation is simple; we have several methods for patients to set one up. The most direct way is to call your preferred SIRM office and request a video consultation. The next way is to fill out a consultation request on our website (click here) and select “Video Consultation” from the “Options” dropdown menu. Once your consultation date and time is confirmed, we will email you simple instructions and a link to your individual conferencing site.

We look forward to SEEING you soon!