Virtual Physicians: Doctors in Cyberspace

Virtual Physicians: Doctors in Cyberspace

Remember in the 1940’s and 1950’s when the doctor would come to the house to see the patient?  Never in a million years would you anticipate seeing a doctor in cyberspace.  However, in a technological world advances in medicine take on many different alternatives.  Yet, many individuals ask themselves this burning question. Is this the new age of how we receive medical treatment?  Is it really that bizarre since you can watch movies online, buy goods from online stores, attend college online, download music, and now you can even receive medical treatment online?  Virtually everything is becoming available online as the years go by.   A virtual healthcare marketplace, called American Well provides online VoIP platforms and real-time virtual medical consultations with doctors anytime of the day. (McGee, 2008).

I find it very fascinating that doctors provide healthcare access to individuals that need it.  Even though this trend is hip and fresh it is affordable and cost effective. Virtual physicians are becoming more and more popular in today’s market.  In fact insurers charge less than actually going to a brick-and-mortar clinic or doctor’s office,  even such helpful websites such as WebMD where you can type in a symptom and research articles for diagnosis and prognosis that make ail the human body.  When a friend of mines hands were swollen real huge, she broke out, and  that’s I went online and found WebMD.  I’ve found out that she had hives due to mixing multiple medications with alternative medicine.   After that when she went to the doctor’s office, she was asked to discontinue taking the medications and was prescribed an antibiotic for her hives.

Coincidence or helpful alternative some might suggest but medical virtual libraries and physicians are very effective and helpful to pinpoint the diagnosis of many ailments that we face in life.  True, there lacks the face-to-face communication, but usually when you visit these virtual medical facilities all you have to do is chat and tell the virtual doctor your symptoms and he/she can give you sound medical advice by telling you if it is serious or treatable.  That can help the overwhelming waste of time that some patients have been reported to going to the doctor’s for a simple cut on their finger.  This makes the wait time for other patients that really need medical treatment longer, there by driving up unnecessary medical costs.  There are some advantages that should be taken into consideration when seeing your virtual physician.  Therefore, the most unwarranted concern is sharing confidential medical information over the internet.

However, I think that would be my concern if I were to actually see a virtual doctor.  I would wonder if the website is secure and if my personal medical condition will be made public.  If you can search and pull up individuals’ public court records, then who is  to say that someone can’t pull up your medical history or information?  That’s the downside to visiting an online physician but is the same amount of health care availability via the internet just as serious or as effective as seeing your personal doctor face-to-face?  Let’s see what medical insurers view this service and what they think of it?  According to CBS Chicago’s “Online doctors” visits are just as common as a cold” and is just as demanding as physical visits. (CBS, 2008).   In the Memphis Business Journal, it stated that another advantage of online doctors’ visits is that it lessens office wait time and paperwork. (Memphis Business Journal, 2008).   How many of you go to the clinic or hospital and the first thing you are handed is a clipboard with basically a booklet of insurance information to fill out?  Then after that why do you have to wait for 15-30 minutes, sometimes even longer to actually be seen by the doctors? Well, in my book going online for 10-15 minutes and chatting with a virtual physician is a lot better than filling out paperwork full of your health insurance plan or medical history.  Time is something that’s precious and beneficial for most to plan or carry-out your day.  I don’t like to have my time wasted, nor do I like filling out a booklet every time I go.

Furthermore, even though the scenarios of online doctor visiting access seem so surreal; it is not accepted by many.  Some experts state that the barrier of this online medical access consists of the lack of jurisdiction procedures and lack of reimbursement for insurers.  This is something that is pertinent to the medical community and shouldn’t be ignored when seeking medical advice or treatment.  It’s important for an individual to seek medical treatment for their illnesses but going about it the right way makes all the difference.   Even with this concern, there are still some medical facilities that utilize the virtual method to help diagnose patients.

On the other hand, I wonder what other kind of medical breakthrough that will be utilized for the future.   It kind of makes me think of that old Rod Serling’s (Creator of the “Twilight Zone”) show “The Night Gallery” a popular show in the 70’s where they had an episode about 2 homeless men; one was a former medical doctor.  He lost his medical license and was drinking a bottle of wine.  Then he was befriending this other homeless guy but the former doctor character was portrayed by actor Burgess Meredith.  Anyway, Burgess found this medical bag in the trash can that was from the future.   Meanwhile, Burgess opened the medical bag and it had this transmitter from I think the year 2040 with this advanced medical instrument to treat diseases such as cancer and other severe medical conditions.  Then the other homeless guy called “Heppawide” observed Burgess Meredith cure some people with these medical instruments that were in the little black bag.

So, that kind of makes me think from not only a scientific prospective but a technological prospective as well.   I wonder will technology ever become so advanced that medical instruments can cure a single human being.  Yes, this was a Hollywood script but with the way technology is going, its being more and more advanced.  There are some brilliant minds of scientists that the U.S. government has and it’s hard to rule out such a theory.  I mean, first it could be virtual doctor visits and it could very well be the Night Gallery episode scenario.   Moreover, not to stray far off the subject of online doctor visits, but this is one theory that has me wondering what stage of health care technology science will take next.   Sure, I find it very helpful to research symptoms that my husband and I may encounter online but as far as actually visiting a virtual physician I don’t know if I would go that far.  It should be suggested as an alternative, that seeing a virtual physician for medical advice maybe an interesting way to cut down the time and space in clinics or hospitals.

In conclusion, I think I can speak for everyone when “waiting” for long periods of time in the E.R. or clinics are getting more horrible by the minute.  If there’s an alternative that people can take to alleviate this they would.  That’s why seeing a doctor online will remain effective.  Sure, there will be concerns about this type of access yet it shouldn’t be ruled out.  Hospitals and Clinics are recommending that some of their regular patients participate in this method.  This form of technology can help the doctors get to other patients in a timelier manner.  The reason is because a face-to-face diagnosis is ideal.   In addition, seeing the doctor online can help pinpoint if the prognosis is serious enough to take the treatment to the next level.  There are also other medical devices that technology creates to provide better health care.  Insurers such as Aetna and Cigna only charge either ¼ or ½ the price by seeing a doctor this way.  Maybe this can be one answer to the rising health care costs. (About Website, 2008).  Finally, encouraging patients to see a real doctor via cyberspace is an exquisite idea.

References

About Website (April 8, 2008).

Health Insurance:  Some Insurers Cover Online Doctors. Retrieved  June 11, 2011, from http://healthinsurance.about.com/b/2008/04/08/some-insurers-cover-online-doctor-visits.htm

CBS  Broadcasting Inc., Chicago ( April 4, 2008).  Online Doctor Visits May Become As Common As Colds: E-Exams Are Convenient for Many Patients and Are Less Costly.  Retrieved June 11, 2011, from http://www.cbs.com/

McGee-Kolbasuk, M. . (June, 19, 2008).  American Well Offers Virtual Doctor Visits: The online health care marketplace lets patients contact an accredited medical specialist live, 24 hours a day, via the web or phone.  Retrieved June 11, 2011, from http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208700359

Otwell, J. (July 12, 2008).

Memphis Business Journal Article:  Online Doctor Visits, Paperwork Can Lessen Office Wait Time For Patients.  Retrieved June 11, 2011, from http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2008/07/21/focus3.html?ana=from_rss