Telemedicine is the name for when doctors give advice to patients by telephone or the Internet, or when health care providers in rural areas connect with specialists in big cities. Telemedicine has existed for a long time, but the rise of smartphone, tablets and webcam-equipped computers is raising telemedicine to new levels. Some health care systems in the United States now offer Virtual Urgent Care, so patients can see a doctor by video chat without having to leave home.
Diana Rae recently showed how Virtual Urgent Care works. She used an iPad tablet and Skype— the video chat service.
Doctor Green first has the patient describe her symptoms (症状). Then the doctor performs a physical exam by showing what he wants her to do. Doctor Green decides that the problem is an infection (感染) and gives her some medicine. He says about 3 out of 4 patients who have health problems can be treated like this — through Virtual Urgent Care, which means a video chat could substitutea visit to the doctor's office.
The Franciscan Health System charges $35 for this kind of virtual house call. That is much less than the cost of going to an emergency room, a doctor's office or an urgent care clinic. After trying the video conference, Diana Rae says she would be happy to pay the 35 dollars, when she was recently home with a bad cold. "I would have paid twice that for the convenience of getting taken care of without having to sit in a waiting room, wait, and get exposed to everyone else's germs (细菌)." Rae said.
But a company official says state rules have not kept progress with development in telemedicine. The workers who provide Virtual Urgent Care must be licensed separately in each state where the company does business. For now, that means Franciscan doctors can treat patients in Washington state and California, for example, but not in neighboring Oregon or Idaho.
