Since last October, Microsoft has been running a beta called Health Vault, which will allow patients to store medical information online. Now Microsoft has announced a deal with Relay Health, a company that offers a secure communications environment in which doctors can communicate with patients.
One of Relay Health’s, webVisit, is described on Relay Health’s web site as follows:
In an independent study, physicians and patients preferred a webVisit® to an office visit.
Two-thirds of patients rate the webVisit online consultation “good” to “excellent” compared to an office visit. That’s because the webVisit is a convenient, effective way to get advice about your non-urgent healthcare issues - directly from the trusted source who knows your healthcare needs best: your doctor.
“I think the most convenient feature is the online consult. To be able to send the doctor a note when the problem is happening is very easy. And since I work the night shift and the office is open in the daytime, I don’t have to stay up waiting for the doctor to get back to me.”
-Patient
There’s no need to “schedule” a webVisit. Initiate one when it’s convenient for you, even if that’s 2AM on a Sunday. Simply answer a few questions about your symptoms and send your webVisit off to your doctor. You can save yourself a few phone calls, and perhaps even an office visit. What’s more, your doctor’s instructions are delivered verbatim, and you can reference them time and time again.
Learn more about the benefits of using RelayHealth, and find out if your doctor is accessible via this service.
I assume that Relay Health will only permit these webVisits to take place with doctors who have once seen the patient face to face. But is there really a valid argument that the quality of medical care during the webVisit is somehow strengthened by the fact that sometime in the (distant) past the doctor saw the patient in the flesh? Let’s be honest here: The webVist is medical care. So are internet questionnaires run by internet pharmacies. Maybe questionnaires aren’t the best medical care, but they’re medical care nevertheless.
