Receiving the Doctor online on webcam

Medical Insurance: Receiving the Doctor online on webcam

Services virtual doctor visits that connect patients in their own home with a doctor at the hospital through the online video or phone becoming more popular, because insurance companies are increasingly willing to pay for them.


In the last statement, WellPoint Inc, the second-largest U.S. insurance company insuring the health, so that the insurer plans to offer a new service for all of their group and individual programs that allow people to consult a doctor on demand, using a webcam or video notebook support plates and smartphones. Video tutorials targeted clients looking for "the convenience and accessibility of health care," said Ken Goulet, Executive Vice President.

But such services, which, according to supporters, can save money by avoiding costly trips to the emergency room, creating tensions between some state regulators and groups of doctors. They argue that the remote visits can make sense when the patient communicates with the attending physician, but treatment may be affected when patients will be served by a doctor, who may be in a different city or state.

Other insurers, including Aetna Inc and UnitedHealth Group Inc, offer a service virtual doctor visits as an option for some employers. A growing number of major companies, including Home Depot Inc and Westinghouse Electric Co, tend to add a service remote consultations to their advantage. According to a survey conducted by Mercer (consulting division of Marsh & McLennan Cos.), 15% of major employers use some form of telemedicine, and another 39% are considering it.

"The ability to communicate with your doctor, 24/7 via the Internet, without an appointment, at an attractive price, is a very attractive option," said Ginny Proesteyks, Director of Health General Electric Co, which tested a virtual consulting service from Optum UnitedHealth Group and co-workers in the state Ohio and plans to launch the service more widely in 2013.

Employers and insurers say that online services can help reduce the probability of a shortage of doctors, nurses. Virtual consultations often cost about $ 40 to $ 45, which is much smaller than a personal visit to the doctor or visit the emergency center.

"If it does not lower the price, the game is not worth it," said Ann Boynton, Deputy Executive Director, who oversees health insurance for pension systems the California Public Employees. This year, he began testing services offered by telephone and online video visits from Teladoc Inc., In one of his programs with about 350,000 registered.

Services are generally directed to specialists and emergency physicians of family medicine. Internet visits should be used for relatively small, acute needs of patients, and not serve as a constant source of regular care. For example, the most common diagnoses in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota programs that offer online and telephone consultations on technology American Well Corp., Include sinus infections, urinary tract infections and conjunctivitis.

Judy Johnson, coach of the call center for the protection of mobile devices by Asurion Insurance Services Inc, use the virtual consultation outlined in the benefits of working at Asurion, to cure a sinus infection, when she did not have time to go to the office of his doctor. She signed up online, contacted toll-free number and describe their symptoms.

A few minutes later the doctor called and talked to her about her condition and medical history, and then handed over the appointment and a prescription for antibiotics to the store.

Ms. Johnson said that she would not feel so comfortable choosing a doctor online, if not offer their own employer, "the legitimacy of which I never questioned."

If remote consultations razrastutsya, they eventually cause financial friction between primary care physician. "It takes away the most profitable and lung patients," minor complaints, requiring relatively brief and routine visits, said Nathan Kaufman, a consultant working with physician groups and hospitals.

But services can also provide an opportunity for additional income generation and flexible working for doctors who want to work for themselves, said Mr. Kaufman.

Jeffrey J. Kane, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, suggested that it was too early to speculate what specific impact on the practice of digital services will make visits to the medical industry.

 Well, as they say, wait and see.