Technology Is Changing the Way You See A Doctor, But Is That Good for Your Health? – By Meera Senthilingam for CNN
(CNN) – One morning, Charlie Latuske woke up feverish and somewhat delirious in his home in Surrey in the UK, leaving him unable to function and in need of a doctor.
He’d endured a sore throat and general malaise for a few days, believing it would get better, but that morning in August 2017, he knew that he had to do something about it.
“I was quite out of it,” said 27-year old Latuske, who was also due to go on vacation with his wife in just three days.
Short on time, he dreaded the idea of calling his local general practitioner only to wait days or even a week for an appointment, or to wait in a queue for an emergency appointment.
“I just needed to be seen without messing around with queues,” he said. “When you’re that ill, that’s the last thing you want to do.”
These days, this solution is somewhat easier, thanks to the internet.
Latuske’s wife showed him a private medical app with which he could see a doctor within the hour — virtually. For a fee of £30 ($38), he could sign up, share his symptoms and video-call a doctor in the UK using the digital health provider Push Doctor.
“I was highly skeptical,” he said, adding that his instincts were to not trust such a service and question the credentials of doctors available through it. “But I was desperate.”
Within 20 minutes, he was speaking with a doctor, who soon diagnosed him with tonsillitis.
Within the hour, he was his nearest pharmacy, collecting prescriptions for antibiotics and pain relievers. And three days later, he was on vacation, as planned.
“I was impressed by the efficiency of the whole thing,” he said.
The service treated more than 1,000 different conditions last year, it says, with the majority of people getting the help they needed first time. “Patients have come to expect the same level of responsiveness from their health care services that they receive from online shops, TV providers and social network,” said Wais Shaifta, CEO of Push Doctor.
