Telehealth: promise or peril?

As you walk down the hall of the clinic, you see through the window millions of jewels as the sun is reflected off the ice on the Bering Sea. You enter the consultation room and greet your patient, Missy Becker. You have arranged for a consult with Dr. Sarah McKinnon about a lesion that Missy has. Turning on the computer you tell Missy that Dr. McKinnon, a dermatologist in Chicago, will be examining her today. When the computer monitor comes alive, you say hello to Dr. McKinnon and introduce her to Missy. You set up the camera that has finger like probes so that Dr. McKinnon can manipulate both the camera and probes. Using these touch-sensitive probes she examines Missy s lesion just as she would if she were physically with you in the consultation room. "Good news," Dr. McKinnon says after a thorough examination, "As far as I can tell now, the lesion is benign. Do a biopsy and put it under the telemicroscope so I can see it." The fact that Dr. McKinnon is in Chicago and you and Missy are separated by over 3,000 miles does not even evoke a comment.