This is a submitted guest blog 
I guess everything can be found online now. New York Times ran an
article this morning about a new start up company created to serve house calls through an Internet connection and a web cam. The purpose of the site is to have a face-to-face appointment with a doctor from the comfort of your own home.
I think is a fascinating new project. I’ve always had a thing against hospitals and doctors because of the long wait times. I wished they had a better and faster method for patients who just need a regular check up or to check symptoms of a sore throat and it seems like that method is here. The worst part is when I have a follow up appointment for something small but takes four hours for a doctor to check me and say I'm okay. If hospitals can implement this new technology, it would save patients a lot of time, energy and money. It can also help hospitals that are understaffed and over crowded.
Do you like the idea of having a routine check up done through the internet? Will it help hospitals fight the overcrowded waiting rooms?
Comments (13)
the picture is funny!lol I don't know, its just that it looks weird having the doctor online.. buut I think this project is cool. no long waits, darrn that
i agree! though it sounds like a good solution to a bad problem, i dont think i would use it-- it's just a little creepy and may not always be accurate. For simple questions, yes it would work...but for more complex issues, i would prefer a face to face meet with my doc
i really DO hate the lines at the hospital-- sometimes it can take the ENTIRE day to be seen! it's ridiculous
this program is cool but only for simple things, which again, i wouldn't feel right asking someone over the net-- i would just call up my mom who seems to know just about everything on anything :)
Wow, that's really interesting.
Are you kidding me? As a future doctor of America, this is just pathetic to read. It goes against everything physicians are....we have to see you, hear you...etc. to diagnose you. You cant do that through a web chat. It's like asking your sister if she thinks you have cancer. How the hell would she know?
What really needs done to fight the overcrowding and the lack of doctors is putting money where it belongs, with the hospitals and doctors, instead of this media hyped bullshit of "giving everyone insurance"...hey, guess what? That doesnt work! Look at the countries that do it! They're worse than us! Money needs to go to the doctors and businesses running medicine...not to the people with this false hope of hey, if i have it, a doctor MUST be available!.....
I'd love this.
i don't like this because it is not as thorough as a actual visit to the doctor's visit.
office*
That defeats the point of going to the doctor. Part of their job is to examine you, which cannot be done over computer. Either way I agree that the hospital waits are ridiculous (I waited 4 hours for a physical and another 45 to actually see a doctor for 3 minutes!) but I don't think this is a real solution to the problem.
I have never waited for more than 30 minutes for a scheduled doctors appointment. (ok, I did once. I found a new ob/gyn after that!)
And I dont think that the same service can be offered over the internet as it can in the office. If you have simple questions, it isnt a bad thing. It is just the same as picking up and calling. Can I get a refill of X perscription? My baby has a cough, should I come in? Things like that are ok. But it shouldnt replace an actual visit!
I don't understand how doctors can conduct a quality checkup over the internet.
Oh man, I could go for that...when it's something routine a check-up like this would be SO convinient.
@enterthelabyrinth@xanga - Good to see other future doctors out there on xanga! :) You might find it interesting that at UCLA they developed a bedside robot. The doctor can control this robot from a remote computer to check on his patients without actually being there. Here is a link: http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=122&action=detail&ref=130
@WolfSnow@xanga - I heard about that. I am one of those hopeful pre-doctors that wishes people would stop making it easier for doctors to step out. I'm not a big fan of impersonal stuff like that. People need belief to recover, and a robot can't give that to a person....
What do you think?