Star Trek Medicine

This week I observed a telemedicine interaction with a patient which was done via video cameras over the internet. The set up they had in the clinic made it look as though it was the bridge on the Star Trek Enterprise. On the other side of the video camera was the patient with a nurse. The neurological exam was conducted by instructing the patient and nurse to carry out various tests. It was pretty cool actually, and made me start to wonder if this type of technology is being used in more remote areas of Canada, where they are in dire need of physicians. Nothing replaces actually being able to have hands on contact with a patient, but for follow-ups or specialist consultations this could solve a lot of problems.

Radiologists are already outsourced all the way from Australia, and India has recently launched a telemedicine program for medical education and health care in Africa. Home visits for the monitoring and care of chronic diseases are being done via webcam in Queensland, Australia. A recent study was conducted in Milwaukee, WI through a veterans hospital where they found that there was a "[...] 25% reduction in the average number of days hospitalized and a 19% reduction in hospitalizations" for patients involved in telehealth care.

I'm very excited to see how this technology will advance, and how the future of medicine will evolve. I'm already imagining myself on a beach with my laptop sipping on an (non-alcoholic) umbrella drink providing patient care....