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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Medicine in the digital era

A recent posting caught my attention. Please refer to "Top 10 Most Creative People in Helath Care" - http://scienceroll.com/2009/06/16/top-10-most-creative-people-in-health-care/

#3 is Dr Jay Parkinson - founder of Hello Health. This is a "conceirge" like primary care practice in Brooklyn, NY. They focus on a digital connection with your MD. What really caught my attention was their very clearly delineated fees, including a month subscription. As stated on the website: *Why do we have a monthly subscription fee? Every month you'll be charged $35, which goes directly toward those wonderful emails, quick questions, and all the time your doctor spends keeping you well between visits. Small price to pay for keeping the doctor away."

With all Obama's talk regarding helath care reform, where will a practice like this fit in?

I remain curious as to how many patients would opt for this type of practice. Given the increasing infiltration of the internet into patients homes (let alone smart phones being one of the brightest items that are selling like hotcakes during this tough ecomomy - re: BlackBerries and iPhones), will more and more patients be looking for this type of access to their physicians? Will they be willing to pay for it?

Please leave your comments and let me know what you think

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