Good health, for those who enjoy it, is something often taken for granted. We all know that we need to have regular checkups, because however good we feel, there is always the possibility that our body isn’t quite right and may need some medical attention.
We fill our bodies with toxins, with fat, with excess, we don’t exercise, we stress, we overwork, or, for some people, we were simply born with genes which have inherited one illness or another. These are all possibilities and realities that many of us at one time or another have to face as our bodies age or suffer from wear and tear or disease.
The good news is that medical science has advanced in leaps and bounds, and with early diagnoses, it is possible to cure and heal a swathe of illnesses. But if you too have had to starve yourself after midnight, only to wait all morning for a blood test in an overcrowded hospital waiting room, and if you have also had to sit for hours to hear your results only to be told to come back in a few months or a year to go through the entire process again, well, then you will understand why there are so many people who fail to get regular checkups.
“There are preliminary tests you can do with blood, urine or stool samples which can eliminate numerous diseases,” said Dr. Chutima Dulmanee, M.D. and CEO of Ocare, a new medical startup which offers home health checkups.
“The idea for Ocare came about when we first began to operate as an online booking system for Chiang Mai’s major hospitals,” continued Dr. Chutima. “What we found was that many people booked their checkups but simply never turned up for their
appointments. Further research showed that it was the time spent travelling to and from as well as waiting at the hospital, along with fear of high costs and the overall lack of convenience that made many people fail to get regular checkups. So what we have done is create an easy to use website whereby people can simply book and pay for packages online, choosing their packages according to their age, or concern for any particular illness.”
Once an appointment has been made online, the next day a professional nurse will visit your home or place of work to take blood, stool and urine samples as well as to check your blood pressure. The results are then taken to Ocare’s lab partners for analyses and within 24 hours become available online.
“What this means is that if there is nothing to worry about then you can find out within 24 hours,” continued Dr. Chutima, “but if there are small dietary recommendations or lifestyle changes needed then our doctors will also make those preliminary suggestions. “We don’t do diagnostics and treatments, however, so if the results show something irregular, we will then recommend the patient to a hospital or a specialist. The patient can print out the results and take it to their doctors for further diagnoses. This is the same system as you would get in most hospitals and clinics, but with added ease and convenience.”
“Our service is not for people with symptoms looking for a diagnosis,” explained Dr. Chutima. “This is not a short cut. We are simply offering preliminary readings and professional interpretations of test results, eliminating a time consuming process of your overall health care. Our nurses will arrive and leave your home within about 15 minutes and you can simply go online to check your results the next day.”
With so many hospitals and clinics in the city and so many of our residents being expatriates or well-travelled Thais, often with medical records in various hospitals around the world, it is also useful to have your health record kept in one place so that you can track your progress or changes year on year. Payment can be made in cash, online through the site or via credit card, and each package has its prices marked clearly with regular discounts throughout the year. Because of lack of overheads and through the use of technology, prices are highly competitive, with packages starting as low as 490 baht for a kidney function test.
With today’s increasingly frenetic lifestyles, Ocare has stepped in to offer a solution for those who are too busy to get regular health checkups. For a small fee, and a fraction of the time it would normally take, you can make sure that your body is healthy and well cared for…and if it’s not, then an early warning is just what it needs to get itself to a hospital and cured.
Now that you have run out of excuses, give your body some love and visit www.ocare.co.th.