Issue 402 Obama Care Byproduct: Tele Doctors August 15, 2014

So with Obama care making healthcare more expensive, the healthcare industry has been racing to cut costs.  One of those measures is some doctors getting rid of their brick and mortar offices to practice medicine via video conference.  Let's discuss.

How it works:  Basically, the doctor sets up a hotline to perform a video conference with his/her patients.  The doctor through the screen can look at the patient to see any abnormalities in skin color or in the eyes.  Do it yourself kits like blood pressure monitors take care of the general checkup needs.  From there the doctor simply diagnoses the patient and then sends a prescription to the pharmacy for the patient via phone, fax or email.

Simple right?:  This allows doctors to see hundreds of patients from around the country in a short period of time and without the cost of maintaining a healthcare facility (which eliminates most regulatory costs).  In addition, due to the cost savings involved, the tele doctor charges anywhere between half to a quarter of the typical doctor visit ($120 without insurance on average, last I checked).  As such, this becomes an attractive option to mothers who cannot or are unwilling to drag their sick children to a doctor’s office full of other pathogens, or for patients who are too sick to drive and cannot acquire transport.  Therefore it fills a useful niche in the healthcare industry.

Hurdles:  One of the hurdles to this form of medical practice is government regulations.  Some State governments require the patient be seen in person to be treated (this is the same requirement in some States for tele care veterinarians).  So in these States, the doctor cannot practice.  Also, only truly experienced doctors can give the best results (which is true of the entire healthcare industry).  This means reputation is everything and so you will have to find an established tele care doctor to get the best healthcare out of one of these tele doctors (which you want to do anyway whether it is a tele doctor or even a regular doctor).  Beyond this, I cannot see many problems that do not already exist.

Conclusion:  I first learned of this through a commercial on one of the many news networks I watch.  The tele doctor in this case treated children and was originally retired but came out of retirement once the start of the doctor shortage hit.  He felt (if I remember correctly) that these children need access to healthcare and thus restarted his practice via video phone.  So this is a great option for those who want cheap healthcare at cost.  Obama care made health care worse for everyone, by making it more expensive, creating larger deductibles and higher copays, this tele doctor solution answers the call for cheaper and equally effective healthcare.