On Wednesday, July 6th, Forbes published an article titled, Is Telemedicine Dead Before it Arrives? The article, written by contributor John Nosta, hypothesizes that the greatest threat to telemedicine is not the hesitancy of the general population to trust virtual doctors, but is instead the emergence of chatbots. What are chatbots, you ask? Chatbots are computer programs that are designed to simulate human conversation. As technology has advanced over the years, artificial intelligence has increased the effectiveness of chatbots as they are now capable of vocal tones and breathing and speech patterns that are more similar to actual human beings.
(Are we the only ones that thing robotic breathing patterns are kind of creepy?) Nosta references Google Duplex and floats the idea that a chatbot with the ability to speak and interact like a human while simultaneously understand medical problems and solutions could easily replace telemedicine before it even gets off the ground. The key in the in the comparison of the two options is the constant availability of chatbots as opposed to virtual doctors who can only see one patient at a time. Regardless of which option survives, "virtual medicine" is likely here to stay. A 2015 study by the American Hospital Association shows some of the key drivers behind the technology. The study showed that:
Sure, there are questions as to what could be defined as "care" within virtual medicine, but these technological developments and statistics tell us as doctors and practice owners that change is happening rapidly. We will be looking further into telemedicine in the upcoming months, but wanted to go ahead and get our referring doctors opinions on telemedicine. What do you think are the most practical applications of this technology in your practice? Are there any particular topics within the discussion of telemedicine you would like to hear more about? (Platforms, insurance, pricing, etc.?) We would love to hear your thoughts!
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