http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/the-doctor-will-see-you-now-online/
There is no need to wait in lines any longer at doctors’ offices and no transportation involved in talking to your doctor using this new method. The idea of talking directly to your doctor, through a web cam, was developed by two brothers, Robert and Ido Schoenberg, creating the company, American Well. Through this web cam development, usage ranges from primary care such as colds and diabetes help, to questions about payment plans and insurance.
American Well benefits the patient by not having to go through the insurance companies for a simple question, and not having to call and get put on hold while the receptionist tries to give you unwanted help that people would rather have from their doctor. One of the main reasons American Well was created was so that it could benefit people without health insurance, making health care more affordable, with visits not exceeding $50.
The way this new system helps the doctor has just as many benefits. Although the doctor gets paid less for each web cam visit comparable to the office visit, they are saving money with having paperwork, and their schedules are not as cluttered and tight as they used to be, seeing how traveling time is not an aspect in direct internet contact. Also, there is time for the doctor to see more patients than they could before. Medical Records can now be transported online from patients to doctors, using HealthVault and ActiveHealth programs so that giving doctors all of past health information will be easily accessable.
American Well, I feel, is a great breakthrough for modern technology that benefits human health. They do advise that if you have a serious medical condition, you should still go to you local E.R. in the case of an emergency. Many companies are beginning to mimic this model of online doctors. I can see why other companies would follow, because the availability of doctors not during business hours, the affordability of the web cam visit, and the basic benefits that both patients and doctors would receive are all factors that allow us to adapt to new technology in the health industry.
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3 comments:
I can understand how this would be helpful for some, but I still feel that nothing can compete with human interaction.
This is definitely a helpful thing to have for people who cannot easily make it to a hospital. But I agree with Zehra in that human interaction is the best way to diagnose and treat, especially if it ends up being serious. And I definitely read this article somewhere before, good choice.
I actually worked in a telemedicine program one summer and it was mainly used for working with prisoners. Due to the high cost of transporting prisoners they would just hook up cameras to the clinic at jails and be able to treat the inmates. I believe that is a good idea and can be very helpful for small illnesses but obviously the person would have to see a doctor face to face if they were really sick
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