Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
Mr. Clod's employer just signed on for a similar private online system called Teladoc. Remote diagnosis and emailed prescriptions for basic flu/strep/etc. On the one hand, yay for not having to haul your kid down to a clinic and wait for hours when you already know goddamn well what's wrong with them. On the other, this is only going to increase the unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics.
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Also, very difficult to distinguish between an innocuous flu and the beginnings of sepsis at the best of times - teladoc I suspect would make for more misses.
The news often has examples of the times doctors missed sepsis when someone presented with flu-like symptoms but how about those people who present with severe flu and whose lives are saved by an observant emergency room doctor or nurse who recognises sepsis?
It's such a difficult thing to spot and it's one of the biggest killers.
That's the trouble with 'routine' illnesses - they're the ones schemes like this focus on as low hanging fruit but the early symptoms of a number of very serious illnesses are all but identical to the symptoms of routine illnesses.
That kind of technology can play a really important role in getting medical diagnoses to people who are unable to access healthcare providers directly - or to make follow-up care and advice easier and less reliant on one to one appointments - but there are serious dangers in using it to cut down the costs of medical attention.