Saturday, July 16, 2011

Telemedicine: Health Care of Tomorrow

From Teladoc.com (hat tip Prof Mark Perry)

1. You wake up one morning with sudden cold-like symptoms: stuffy nose, cough, congestion. You don’t want to miss time at work by sitting in an urgent care or ER waiting room. What to do?

2. Simply log in to your account or call 1-800-Teladoc to request a phone or online video consultation with a Teladoc doctor. You can use Teladoc from home, work, on vacation, or while traveling internationally. The average doctor call back time is 22 minutes.

3. A U.S. board-certified doctor or pediatrician licensed in your state reviews your Electronic Health Record (EHR), then contacts you, listens to your concerns and asks questions. It's just like an in-person consultation. There is no time limit to the consult.

4. The doctor recommends the right treatment for your medical issue. If a prescription is necessary, it's sent to the pharmacy of your choice.

5. Teladoc costs far less than in-person visits: $38 or lower, depending on your plan design. Teladoc charges the credit card you provided when requesting your consultation or your billing information on file. You can request a receipt for deductibles or reimbursement, if needed. The doctor updates your HIPAA-compliant EHR based upon the consultation. Teladoc is a qualified expense for HSA, FSA and HRA accounts.

6. At the end of every call, the doctor will ask if he's answered all of your questions, and we'll follow up to make sure you're delighted with the service.

I am hoping to see telemedicine flourish not only abroad but also in the Philippines soon.

I understand that the Philippine government has initiated telemedicine aimed at the remote areas. But I don’t think the government is the answer.

And yes this could be seen as a sunshine investment opportunity.

Nonetheless, considering the exponential growth of the internet in the Philippines, where usage now is about 6.3% of the population and growing...

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Chart from Google Public Data

...digital healthcare trends will surely be headed in this direction.

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