DOCTORS ON CALL...Pick up the Phone!
WPM Editorial Staff
WPM ARTICLE SUMMARY Title of Article: These docs are literally on call Author: Julie Appleby Publication: USA TODAY Date of Publication: May 25 2005
WPM Introductory Summary
*General introduction of the article content A controversial new business is in bloom. It is a twist on the decades-old practice of doctors responding to phone calls from their own patients. But now, patients are willing to pay for fast, low-cost medical care by telephone...with doctors they have never met. It is called TelaDoc. This services promoters say that patients both insured and uninsured can save money by using TelaDoc instead of urgent care clinics or the emergency room.
Bullet Points: 5-10 points of interest
• For individuals, TelaDoc service costs $18 to join, and $4.25 a month to continue service.
• Each call to a doctor is 35 dollars. • This is a whole new move toward consumer-oriented heath care. Your time, your place, your way. • The service is 24 hour, quick return calls and low-cost tests with no appt. necessary speed. However, if TelaDoc continues to grow and work, it is a red flag that something is wrong. It signals that people are having a difficult time accessing their primary care physicians. • TelaDoc doctors must respond to a call within 3 hours or the 35 dollar fee is waived.
• There are catches though. The TelaDoc doctors will not prescribe narcotic painkillers and will not treat anyone under the age of 12. • Primary care physicians are skeptical of these "phone doctors". • You are covering a patient you have never met, and you have no access to their chart. In addition to that, TelaDoc doctors say they have medical malpractice insurance and do not ask their patients to sign a liability waiver. • TelaDoc tries to appeal the uninsured, but sometimes even those are skeptic. WPM Conclusion Summary
Overall, TelaDoc believes they can help you a contact a doctor quickly, and address at least 75 percent of the issues one may have. Whether they are trying to appeal to the insured or the uninsured, TelaDoc is a booming industry. Some are skeptic, some find it a blessing, but it truly is too soon to see whether TelaDoc can rise to the top or fail miserably.
Sources
1. Michael Gorton, CEO of TelaDoc
2. Ann O'Malley, Center for Studying Health System Change
3. Jonathan Weiner, professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins
4. Urban Institute
5. Joseph Heyman, trustee of the American Medical Association
6. Sue Willete of Mercer Human Resource Consulting
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