Doctor's Vision For Health Reform: Videochat

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 23 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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A jean-wearing, blogging pediatrician who works out of a Williamsburg, Brooklyn, loft claims "disruptive technology" is a better treatment for America's health care woes than universal health insurance, the Boston Globe reports. He hopes products like "Hello Health, a national franchise of clinics he is building where patients can e-mail, text, or videochat with doctors over a secure Web site," will jolt the health system into dramatic reforms.

His practice - which includes three physicians who see patients in-person and online - charges $100 to $200 per visit, and for a $35 a month membership fee, answers e-mailed questions for free. "If everyone has to have insurance, waiting rooms will get more crowded, as they have in Massachusetts, he reasons. Thus, many people will be willing to pay up front for the convenience of being able to videochat or get a question answered by e-mail or just to get an appointment in a reasonable amount of time," the Globe reports (Wangsness, 6/21).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

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