Dr Phil Talks About Telemedicine At CES 2015

Dr Phil just finished talking about his new telemedicine app at the CES 2015 Digital Health Summit. He had a lot of interesting things to say, so check it out:

The app is called ‘Doctor on demand’, which is exactly what it is. For $40 you can talk to a certified physician or therapist via your smart device.

And so how well does this work? This is what Dr Phil Mc Graw had to say.

The main concern is of course that people might be skeptical as to how well this service actually works. People simply think it’s too good to be true.  According to Dr phil it works pretty much just as well as going in, except for some obvious limitations.

Not only can you make sure that the doctor you are talking to is certified, you can see if they have had any previous issues or complaints against them. Something that is actually difficult to do when meeting a doctor face to face.

“Essentially, we do the research for you”

It’s pretty much like facetiming with a doctor, so the physician can use visual cues fairly well. But not 100% as well as if you went in to see a doctor.

There’s also a Snapchat like function so that the doctor can take a look at sensitive things without the patient having to worry about privacy.

The doctors can make a diagnosis and even prescribe you medicine via the app. But he was very clear that they do not allow doctors to prescribe any medicine that can be abused.

“We simply will not, ever, prescribe narcotics over the internet”

Another benefit is that this basically eliminates missed appointments. Even if you’re on vacation you can keep in touch with your doctor.
As for virtual therapy sessions he said that they have been highly successful. people tend to be more candid with the therapist during a virtual session than if they are actually in the same room.