Internet health is creeping up in America

Laws and regulations vary from state to state, and the coverage and conditions of Medicare services vary, but states are the same, with millions of of Americans now able to receive some form of telemedicine through video.

When the Ebola patient Richard Sachla (Richard Sacra) was sent to the biological protection ward at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Nebraska Jude Center), the key point was to isolate him as much as possible from others. But for his family and the medical staff who need to be regularly examined, isolation has created a lot of difficulties, both emotionally and in terms of the medical services available to him.

So the medical team introduced the video collaboration platform Vidyo, a platform that allows health care providers and patient families to communicate and interact with patients remotely. Although he lives in isolation ward, he is not completely isolated.

"He's in a quarantine ward, but his wife can talk to him every day and talk at any time," said Vidyo's spokesman Maliklep Mari Clapp. She was at his bedside, watching him through video. This is important and meaningful. In addition, doctors and nurses can communicate with him frequently without contact. ”

There are a number of platforms like Vidyo, which are only part of the burgeoning "telemedicine" field. Although telemedicine has been in service for some years, it is a medical method that can provide telemedicine services. In some of the technology-leading states, the service involves a large number of videos, electronic medical records and various medical facilities, which have been transformed from a new concept from 30 ago to a hot medical service.

First, Americans are increasingly interested in collecting health information on the Internet. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly three-fourths of American adults say they are doing so, and one-third of Americans say they use information found online to diagnose themselves.

Jonathan Linkous, chief executive of the American Tele-Medical Association (Anglo Telehealth Association), said: "Although the public had almost no idea what telemedicine was, it had been in existence for more than 30 of years." The American Telemedicine Association has been in place for more than more than 20 years, and many experts have used telemedicine technology to diagnose illnesses and monitor treatment in distant or rural areas. Telemedicine has been developing at a slow pace, but the pace of development has increased markedly over the past few years. In fact, about 15 million people in the United States last year received telemedicine services. ”

In August, Deloitte, a consultancy, predicted that 600 million medical visits would be made in the United States and Canada in 2014, with about 75 million doctors using remote technology. In addition, even if only one-third of live visits turn into tele-visits, the scale of the tele-visits market can reach $50 billion to 60 billion dollars.

Google (Weibo) seems to want to enter the field with Google Helpouts. It connects its search engine directly to remote consulting services and is currently testing it for free only in a limited scope, apparently to get the market's needs and feasibility in check.

American States have different laws and regulations, both inside and outside the medical community, and people have different attitudes towards telemedicine technology. But from a technical point of view, what kind of health care service is feasible and which kind of health care service is not practicable?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Veterans Affairs) recently reported that nearly 700,000 veterans used at least one of its telemedicine services in 2014 years, providing 44 clinical professional services through the telemedicine program. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs of Miami weekly plans to provide 90 remote clinical clinics related to skin diseases, eye examinations, foot care, mental health and other clinical specialties.

Apart from mental health services and remote monitoring of chronic diseases, telemedicine is increasingly being used in a number of new areas, including mainstream primary and surgical care, retail medical and mobile health applications, says Lincoss of the Tele-Medical Association. Asked what kind of medical service could never be done remotely, he replied: "Always a very absolute statement." As technology advances, everything is possible, so we cannot say which medical service can never use remote technology. ”

Online Care Group is the first online physician network in the United States, and telemedicine service provider Americanwell uses its network. Dr Peter Antall, president and chief executive of the online medical Group, says the current telemedicine technology is best suited to deal with mild Antor, disease or trauma. He says telemedicine physicians can also help people with chronic illnesses when they suddenly get worse. Sometimes telemedicine services can also help people determine whether they should go to a hospital, which can save patients ' expenses, on the other hand, can allow patients with life-threatening diseases to go to the hospital in time.

In addition to minor illnesses and acute diseases, general medical problems can often be answered by a professional medical staff through tele-service. Dr Antor mentioned that, for example, a smoker can consult a professional health care provider through a telemedicine service, or that obese people can consult a professional health care provider about how to lose weight through tele-medical services.

As for the incompetence of telemedicine services, he replied: "The provision of an intermediary medical service from a medical center, especially a primary care centre, is not possible by telemedicine." ”

Antor and Lincoss all pointed out that in the next few years, telemedicine services can better treat diabetes and mental health problems, because some patients live in areas where there is limited medical conditions, the medical costs of some diseases are expensive, and some patients have to drive far away from regular treatment, so the treatment process is time-consuming.

With the promotion of telemedicine services, more and more patients will recognize and accept this service, which will continue to promote the popularization of telemedicine services. The more patients contact and use the online telemedicine services, the longer they will feel more comfortable describing the condition, using a stethoscope and other medical devices, and consulting whether they should go to a clinic or not.

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)