Comparisons
In absentia healthcare has probably existed for more than 1500 years. This enduring practice owes its longevity to need fulfillment, convenience and - in some cases - the greed of the physicians. When viewed in the context of slow travel, healing in absentia was perfectly suited to fulfill a need of patients who could not travel to see a doctor in person. Famous healers, from Galen to Cullen, engaged in mail order practice even though they generally saw people face-to-face. They had used the technology of their day to help them make diagnoses quicker and more easily, and to reach persons from further away - no different from what we do today. To arrive at a diagnosis, physical examination itself was seen as less important than hearing the patient's story. Thus, personal contact, while desirable, may not have been essential.
Contemporary technology allows the transmission of videos, photos, and data to distant sites. It is not yet clear if this will eliminate the need for a physical examination also. Remote viewing of images and data are acceptable, but are no substitute for physical contact. This is especially the case with telemedicine, when a physician may consult with a remotely sited consultant. Here, however, a patient-physician relationship already exists between two parties. Indeed, data exchange serves as latter day equivalent of a third party physical examination in such instances.
Technology permits this kind of healthcare without any primary contact with a qualified caregiver. This type of care, "between strangers," is of uncertain merit. It is cheaper, quicker, and more convenient at a time when - some might say - that traditional health insurance and the cost of drugs are straying beyond the reach of many. The worried-well may seek care for discomfort that past generations would have dismissed as trivial or inevitable. (p684-7)
The same electronic information technologies that aid the health-providers also empower the health-seekers who can gain easier access, whilst remaining anonymous.(p143) While anonymity encourages honesty, it can sometimes mask a poor level of care, and perhaps even greed of some "caregivers".
Over time, barriers to access such as cost, inconvenience or embarrassment have encouraged patients to seek out in absentia care. The ultimate "balance sheet" of risks and benefits of remote care is yet to emerge. What is clear, however, is that in absentia care is not by any means a new phenomenon: e-doctors practising telemedicine is simply a technological variation on a theme as old as medicine itself.
Read more about this topic: In Absentia Health Care
Famous quotes containing the word comparisons:
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)
“The surest route to breeding jealousy is to compare. Since jealousy comes from feeling “less than” another, comparisons only fan the fires.”
—Dorothy Corkville Briggs (20th century)
“Decade after decade, artists came to paint the light of Provincetown, and comparisons were made to the lagoons of Venice and the marshes of Holland, but then the summer ended and most of the painters left, and the long dingy undergarment of the gray New England winter, gray as the spirit of my mood, came down to visit.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)