Medicine has been slowly going digital, from digital records to surgical video consults for special cases in remote locations. For most people, the idea of a digital doctor's appointment is still pretty futuristic. But for a small number of people, this already available in the U.S. today.
A new company called Doctor on Demand allows people in 49 of the 50 U.S. states to get access to a medical doctor via video chat on their smart phone or tablet. Another service called Healthy.io is allowing people to do home urine tests, scan them with their smart phones and get actual lab results from them.
So, for a privileged few, "digital doctors" are already here, at least to some degree. But, realistically, for most people, this is still something …show more content…
HIPAA standards require significant information security and there is no standardization across the U.S. Formats vary regionally and different electronic healthcare records system are often …show more content…
is further complicated by the lack of a single payer system. There are multiple insurance companies, plus various government programs. Rules that impact all of this further vary by state.
If you think learning to socialize online is fraught with new complications compared to socializing face to face, imagine how many complications are introduced in digital medicine. If a person can theoretically talk with a doctor anywhere in the world, the doctor needs to be able to access healthcare records in a timely fashion, be up to speed on a variety of pertinent laws and learn new methods for effectively communicating with patients remotely.
In practice, digital doctors may always be largely limited to the same region as the patient, except in the case of niche specialists and emergency situations. This significantly limits the number of complicating factors, such as local laws and regulations, and keeps people talking with someone in their same time zone, generally speaking.
Although it is an exciting time in medicine, digital doctors are only a current reality for the privileged few. It will be a few years before all the bugs are worked out and such services are more generally available on a reliable basis to the
A new company called Doctor on Demand allows people in 49 of the 50 U.S. states to get access to a medical doctor via video chat on their smart phone or tablet. Another service called Healthy.io is allowing people to do home urine tests, scan them with their smart phones and get actual lab results from them.
So, for a privileged few, "digital doctors" are already here, at least to some degree. But, realistically, for most people, this is still something …show more content…
HIPAA standards require significant information security and there is no standardization across the U.S. Formats vary regionally and different electronic healthcare records system are often …show more content…
is further complicated by the lack of a single payer system. There are multiple insurance companies, plus various government programs. Rules that impact all of this further vary by state.
If you think learning to socialize online is fraught with new complications compared to socializing face to face, imagine how many complications are introduced in digital medicine. If a person can theoretically talk with a doctor anywhere in the world, the doctor needs to be able to access healthcare records in a timely fashion, be up to speed on a variety of pertinent laws and learn new methods for effectively communicating with patients remotely.
In practice, digital doctors may always be largely limited to the same region as the patient, except in the case of niche specialists and emergency situations. This significantly limits the number of complicating factors, such as local laws and regulations, and keeps people talking with someone in their same time zone, generally speaking.
Although it is an exciting time in medicine, digital doctors are only a current reality for the privileged few. It will be a few years before all the bugs are worked out and such services are more generally available on a reliable basis to the