Doctor visits go online — chicagotribune.com
By the time San Francisco consultant Meg Young got to Boston on a chilly night last winter, she was running a 102-degree fever. She considered going to the emergency room. Instead, she went online in her hotel room.The 40-year-old technology expert booked a visit with her primary-care doctor at Stanford University Hospital. After Young filled out a form and described her symptoms, he diagnosed a bacterial infection, prescribed an antibiotic from a drugstore near the hotel and suggested she get some rest.
This article says that a couple of major health insurers are now reimbursing doctors for “virtual” office visits – sometimes conducted with a webcam hookup – but more often via email for minor or chronic complaints and prescription refills.
My husband David once had to go to the emergency room on Maui for a friggin’ sinus infection; he often cites the experience when talking about what’s wrong with health care. I’m still home sick, battling my cold, and I can’t even call my doctor for an appointment until tomorrow morning, as they’re in their Des Plaines office today and there’s no way I’m driving there in sub-zero cold. I had to go out yesterday in the cold, which set me back a bit, too.
One note: for cold symptoms with cough, Nyquil/Dayquil doesn’t cut it for me – I do better with Robitussin softgels and an Allegra generic and a nasal spray decongestant. I spent the whole night stuffed up, coughing, and miserable. Now that I’ve taken the trifecta of OTC cold/cough medicines, everything’s better. I’m hoping to get in to work tomorrow after a possible visit to the doctor – but I won’t be able to do it over the phone, I’ll have to drag ass in there. If I’m going to avoid weeks of “winter cough,” I’ll need to hit this with my old standby. And I doubt I’ll be able to get my doctor to prescribe it over the phone. It may be worth a phone call to Des Plaines… but he doesn’t have access to my records there, and doesn’t even have access to the appointment book for the Palatine office, which is one of the reasons I’d like to find a new doctor entirely.