Call a doctor or go to the clinic? How to get medical care for ARVI in Moscow

The temperature is 38, the throat hurts, the head is cast iron, and the legs are wadded: all the symptoms of SARS, or even worse, are evident. The first thought is to call a doctor. Do you know that in Moscow now it is absolutely not necessary? Moskovskaya Pravda found out how to act and where to go with symptoms of SARS.

Previously, to call a doctor at home, you had to call your clinic. Many Muscovites remember how much time they had to spend on the phone, dialing the registration number again and again in order to wait for long beeps. Now a doctor is called by calling the Unified Medical Information Service: 122. At the same time, the service works daily, that is, even on weekends and holidays. You do not need to wait for a response from the service for a long time – usually a couple of seconds is enough. True, you have to communicate not with a live person, but with a chat bot, but for the majority this is not a problem. Know how to press the right buttons and answer the questions asked.

However, not everyone manages to call a doctor at home. A year ago, therapists from the district polyclinic came to the house in cases where the patient had a temperature above 37.5 degrees, pressure above 150/90, with acute or chronic pain, as well as if an infectious disease was suspected, especially if the patient had a rash, spots on the body, vomiting or diarrhea. Now you can call a doctor only to Muscovites with limited mobility, citizens over 60 years old or patients with a severe course of the disease.

And what, now you have to go to the clinic with a fever and a cough? Honestly, not the best option. Imagine how many there will be just like you. At the same time, those who caught the coronavirus may also be in the queue for the doctor, because the symptoms of SARS and COVID-19 are now very similar. And although patients with viral infections are given respirators, it’s not a fact that you won’t add “someone else’s” to your cold. Do you need it? Moreover, there is a way to communicate with a doctor and open a sick leave remotely.

It is easy to do this: through EMIAS you can design an application for medical advice and the opening of an electronic sheet of temporary disability. Processing of such applications is usually quite fast. In any case, a doctor will contact you during the day, advise on the treatment regimen, and if necessary, write out an electronic prescription and a sick leave certificate (for ARVI, it is issued for 7 days).

With symptoms of SARS, Muscovites over 18 years old can remotely receive a doctor’s consultation and open a sick leave without visiting a polyclinic. To do this, you need to send an application using the electronic form on the mos.ru portal, after which the doctor will contact the patient. He will conduct a consultation, prescribe treatment, issue an electronic prescription for medicines and automatically open a sick leave for ARVI for seven days.

By the way, the extension or closure of the sick leave is also carried out remotely. And after you are discharged, the sick leave will automatically be sent to your place of work. In general, digitalization in all its glory.

But what if you still think that a remote consultation with a doctor is not enough? In this case, you can contact the ambulance by calling 103. As a rule, operators answer within a few seconds, but if there are too many calls to the line, you can hear the following message: “Hello. You called the Unified Dispatch Center for Emergency and Emergency Medical Care of the city of Moscow, please do not hang up, we will definitely answer you.” In this case, you do not need to try to call back again, but you should wait, sometimes a few minutes, when the free operator answers you. He will listen to your complaints and, if necessary, issue a call to the medical team.

In general, there are plenty of options for obtaining medical care in Moscow. And if necessary, everyone can get it.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by M. Mishin / press service mera and nMoscow government