Doctor’s Vision For Health Reform: Videochat
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).
