House calls will return via E-Doc.

[CoolBreeze]

How would you like to see your doctor by computer in the comfort of your own home?

Doctors in Hawaii started making online house calls today in the nation's first large-scale program of its kind that some believe could be a groundbreaking step in health care.

The service is being provided by Hawaii Medical Service Association under a licensing agreement with Boston-based American Well. It is available for a fee to all Hawaii residents, including the uninsured and non-HMSA members. See a video that explains how this works here:
http://americanwell.com/talk_to_a_doctor_now.html

"This is changing the face of how medicine is delivered in a very positive, safe and efficient way," said Dr. Patricia Avila, medical director of HMSA's Online Care.

Avila said the program isn't intended to reinvent the house call. "It's a redesign."

Hawaii is seen as ideal for the service because the islands are separated by miles of ocean. (West Virginia resembles that isolation)

HMSA, an independent licensee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, also has the reach and resources to roll out the program. With nearly 700,000 members, HMSA covers more than half of the state's population and has 90 percent of the state's physicians in its network.

[Big Media]

I guess the otoscope will be USB compatible? How will they handle paps?

[genlock]

prostate exams have been digital for decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rectal_exam

[Hoosier Daddy]

prostate exams have been digital for decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rectal_exam

Yeah, and you can't get an analog rectal exam after February 17, 2009.

No ... wait a minute ...