Romanian doctors open Europe's first online hospital

SpitalOnline.ro, the first doctor-patient live chat platform in Europe has been launched in Romania on Tuesday, on a business initiative of several Romanian doctors supported by British experts, involving an investment of 30,000 euros.

The project proposes a quick alternative to classic visits to a doctor, offering patients around-the-clock medical services in 30 specialities, initially supported by 150 doctors.

According to the project founder Mihai Rascu, consultations are provided by specialized doctors in every discipline, holders of professional practice rights in Romania, which makes the process "automatically legal."

"SpitalOnline.ro wants to address this patients' need of permanent communication with their doctors, asking questions and getting hours even outside the classic visit programme. According to studies, some 70 percent of visits to hospitals or offline clinics to obtain a diagnostic and a therapy could be made through technological means, and thus avoided. Also, looking on the Internet, on forums, we note that hundreds of people search online answers to their various medical problems. We want to prevent those people from getting amateur treatment, as many times they lack the support of a specialized medical center," Rascu said in a press conference.

He asserts that SpitalOnline.ro doctors offer instant support and permanent counselling for minor emergencies, interpretation of analyses, presumed diagnostics, and first medical treatment. They can also issue medical justification notes valid in any European Union country, prescriptions, referrals, and leaves of absence.

"To contact a doctor, a patient must follow a couple of simple steps. After creating an account on the website, the patient selects...