Digital Health

It's becoming a commonly accepted thing that we can do anything on the web - buy groceries, shop, meet significant others..the possibilities are endless. This is why videoconferencing as a means of medical service does not surprise me. Over-the-phone nurse hotlines have been around for years. I think that having checkups over videoconferencing is very efficient and on a more impacting level can help some individuals have medical access that would otherwise be unavailable to them. One of my chief concerns would be that some people might resort to using that when they are in need of desperate hands-on medical attention. However I do know that I personally have made a trip to the doctors office to receive a prescription for something that I already knew I needed - regardless of the doctor's visit (i.e. strep throat..or cough syrup). In cases like this, videoconferencing my doc would have been ideal. It could also prove beneficial in cases where someone is in a critical condition and needs assistance of someone. For example, a medic over the phone could give someone verbal instructions over the phone for performing CPR, but if it were on-screen, it could potentially be much more effective. Overall I think this is a concept that will be widely accepted in a few years..we will just have to wait and see what else the future has in store.