Virtual Online Doctor – Telemedicine
Emergency Room at the Click of a Mouse
You are feeling ill, you are at work, and you have a meeting in an hour. You do not have time to spend half a day going to visit your doctor, if you can even get an appointment in a timely manner. What are you going to do?
What about going to an expensive emergency room care and waiting hours? Telemedicine may be a solution.
Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications for healthcare. Today telemedicine technology allows for the provision of medical services to sites that are physically separated from the provider. Telemedicine is used to provide decision making aids, remote sensing, and collaborative real-time management of patients at a distance.
Various forms of telemedicine have existed since the 1950s. A landmark case of international telemedicine use occurred in April 1995 when an “SOS” email message from China led to the internet diagnosis of Zhu Lingling, a young female university student, with Guilian-Barre Syndrome, a potentially life threatening illness. This telemedicine communication saved her life.
Early expansion was confined by limitations in technology and subsequent high costs. Recent technological advances, however, such as fiber optics, satellite communications, methods of data compression, and real-time video transmission, have minimized many of the technological and cost barriers for the growth of telemedicine. Telemedicine has been proven to provide improved quality of care, reduced transportation times and costs, increased cost efficiency and increased access to healthcare.
Bellaire ER was constructed with the most sophisticated fiber optic electronic transmission capabilities of any emergency room care in the nation. It was specifically designed and constructed to manage not only emergency sick or injured patients but also to manage telemedicine interactions.
Virtual ER is located within Bellaire ER, taking calls from schools, businesses, prisons, and even private homes. For $49.00 per event you get an unlimited telemedicine consultation with a highly trained emergency room care doctor or staff member. The reasoning behind the origination of the telemedicine interaction being in an emergency room care is a sound one. The emergency room care personal are uniquely qualified to triage or guide the patient to the appropriate next step in their management. Can your illness wait for a doctor’s visit in a few days or should you be seen immediately? Most importantly an ER staff would be the best trained to recognize a true emergency. Also in a small group of relatively healthy patients, consultation and even treatment with a prescription might be appropriate without hands on exam.
Today’s healthcare arena is plagued with long waits, high costs, poor access and few options. Telemedicine is poised to change the face of healthcare. The future of short or no wait times and lower cost medical care is here. Welcome.
BellaireER offers Telemedicine – a virtual online doctor – through its sister website, VirtualERs.com .