The electronic house call. Consequences of telemedicine consultations for physicians, patients, and society
T. Ostbye and P. Hurlen
Department of Epidemiology, University of Western Ontario, London. ostbye@uwo.ca
Within the next 10 years, telemedicine technology is likely to become
widely available in physicians' offices and patients' homes. Rather than
describing the technology of telemedicine, we discuss the implications of
its widespread use among physicians, patients, and society as a whole,
focusing on that mainstay of communication between physician and patient,
the "electronic house call." After exploring the new relationship that is
likely to develop between patients and physicians as a consequence of the
use of telemedicine, we discuss the broader economic, legal, and political
consequences of the widespread use of this technology.
