[sampkola]

Thanks for the response. Agreed that it's better the normal way but even a simple consultation requires submitting a phone number to a mediator service. Most of folks are reluctant to submit their phone numbers to a database (which might get hacked given the state of security policies, not to speak of other predatory practices of selling personal data to ad services). Like I said in my post, there is no regulation that protects health data from being sold to 3rd parties and even if there is one, it is not enforced. Unfortunately, data security is currently the responsibility of the patient instead of being the other way around and this adds a huge barrier for the technologically non-savvy.

[raxxorrax]

Worse that data sharing seems to be a trend even in countries where such data was previously protected. But I think medical professionals are very aware about the importance of confidentiality and maybe speaking directly about that with your doctor might compel him to hide the reasons for your visit. So it remains the best approach to get the best help.