Comments on: The Upsides of Virtual Medicine

By: Matthew Holt

Matthew Holt — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:38:59 +0000

At last a chance to unload against Maggie’s blog!! Which i took with both barrels over there!

By: Ted Eytan

Ted Eytan — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:49:31 +0000

Vince,

Right on. I always remember that it took 80 years for the telephone to gain acceptance in medicine. We are only 8 years into patient-physician e-mail.

As the press begins to inform an audience that is more likely to provide and receive care using all the tools available, the discussion should turn to “how do we do this well,” instead of “should we do this at all?”

Thanks for your input and for all of your work in this area,

Ted

By: Vince Kuraitis

Vince Kuraitis — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Ted, I think this issue can be framed more constructively by the general press. More often than not it’s framed as maximizing or minimizing care in the office or virtually; people respond whether they happen to think one type of care is better or not.

I think a more constructive way to think about this is about OPTIMIZING delivery of care — and that there are a number of variables to take into consideration, e.g., patient preference, clinical need for physical presence, cost, physician availability, speed, etc.

Our current payment system for physicians presumes face-to-face interactions, so of course this is what doctors give and patients get. There is no reason to hold on to this assumption for the future.

Thanks for your thoughtful post.