Virtual Medicine
In principle, your doctor could be on the other side of the world:
This study [is] the largest trial of virtual visits versus face-to-face visits done to date…… Patients found virtual visits similar to face-to-face visits on most measures, including time spent with the physician, ease of interaction and personal aspects of the interaction. Physicians scored virtual visits similar to face-to-face visits on measures including history taking and medication dispensing.
Interesting. With all kinds of political implications. It’s hard for politicians to regulate a doctor who is on the other side of the world.
The military has developed some very innovative uses of virtual medicine for battlefield application. Not only do they use virtual means to read X-Rays and perform lab tests, they’re also using robotic-controlled instruments, linked with 3-D cameras, which allow the very best military doctors to support front-line combat medics — from thousands of miles away. The potential for virtual medicine will only grow from here.