Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Health
Waiting in the doctor's office, reading old magazines is never fun. But some health systems are allowing patients with minor ailments to see the doctor—without seeing the doctor. These patients can log onto their personal health record portal, answer questions about their condition and get their doctor's diagnosis and recommended treatment.
But are e-visits as good as face-to-face consultation? A new study finds that they appear to result in decent diagnoses for common infections, while also saving time and money. The findings are in Archives of Internal Medicine. [Ateev Mehrotra et al., A Comparison of Care at E-Visits and Physician Office Visits for Sinusitis and Urinary Tract Infection]
Researchers analyzed some 5,000 doctor visits for sinus infections and 3,000 visits for urinary tract infection. Less than 10 percent of all visits were electronic. One possible e-visit drawback: doctors were more likely to prescribe antibiotics after an e-visit than a face-to-face. But patients with an e-visit had just about the same rate of follow up as those who had an office visit. Which suggests that there was not a higher rate of misdiagnosis or treatment failure online. E-visits were also cheaper.
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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2 Comments
Add CommentWell one can hope the licensing boards remove their heads from an anatomically tight location. The rule of thumb goes that if you listen long enough, the pt. will tell you the answer. Most doc's don't so boards bugger stuff up and insist you see the pt. (usually within a day or two) of prescribing over the phone. NO one wants to listen to a guy who spent 17 years in the trenches, but during the winter, pt's had a cold or flu (or sometimes a sinus infection from either). New studies have shown flu drugs to be worthless, sinus infection treatments to be equally so and I hope we all know a cold is not treatable. But most docs still give antibiotics for fear of upsetting the pt. (because somehow after 7 years of training, we can't tell a pt the right thing?)and losing business. During the winter a good nurse could screen 60% or more of the pts and tell them to stay home for 3 days, hot compresses and aspirin (not for pediatrics though and elderly). But doc's still have overhead, so guess what? People get seen that really could have stayed home.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo employers require doctors notes-so pt's have to be seen
Doctors need to pay overhead -so pt has to be seen
Pt's think they know more than doc and need antibiotics -so pt has to be seen.
Medical boards think their is some magic seeing a pt -so pt has to be seen
Medical Insurance won't pay for phone visit (maybe this has changed in the last 7 years) so pt has to be seen.
So the results above surprising-NO
Likely to change medical standards of care, big HELL NO
I take medical advice from Dr Mercola. Free, except for internet and supplements. I fired my family doctor and dentist because of his advice.
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