Meet your Doctor by SKYPE: Why do you... - Prostate Cancer N...

Prostate Cancer Network

5,258 members3,324 posts

Meet your Doctor by SKYPE

Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner
2 Replies

Why do you need to visit in-person for a urology or radiology consult?

Do you really need to shake the surgeons hand?

Since prostate cancer doctor consultations rarely involve a physical exam by the actual doctor, would you object to "meeting" with your urologist or radiologist by SKYPE or something like SKYPE?

(blood tests could be done by the local clinic, so you save massive amounts of time and may actually "see" your doctor sooner rather than later.) What do you think?

Written by
Darryl profile image
Darryl
Partner
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
2 Replies
AlanMeyer profile image
AlanMeyerModerator

If I had a choice of meeting with a doctor for 20 minutes in person vs. 20 minutes on Skype, I'd prefer meeting in person. However if my choice were driving in traffic for an hour, sitting in a waiting room for an hour, meeting for 20 minutes, then driving home for an hour, I think I'd prefer the Skype. I'd stay home and do whatever needs to be done at home and the doc could call me when he was free and I was his next patient.

That would not be true for every doctor's visit. Sometimes a physical exam is needed but, as you say, sometimes it's not.

30 years ago people were talking about artificial intelligence as a partial replacement for doctors. A number of very sophisticated programs were written. You could type your symptoms and test results in (or test results could be sent from the lab direct to the computer) and the program would offer opinions or recommendations for more testing. I have read that some of the programs produced diagnoses and prescriptions that were actually better than those of human doctors in most cases, especially those involving less frequently encountered conditions. However, fearing a field day for malpractice attorneys, none of the companies that backed the research were willing to take them to the market.

One of the big advantages of computers is that, when bugs are found in the program or errors in the database, they can be completely and permanently corrected. Incompetent or ignorant doctors aren't "fixed" so easily.

Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner in reply toAlanMeyer

Great comment.

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Doctor recommendations

Would really like to have the best prostate oncologist and prostate radiologist recommendations...
Portugal-2 profile image

Keep A Log Of All Your Tests - Be Obsesive About This Task

As I go over their many comments and questions on this site I become concerned that in some...
JoelT profile image

Your thoughts - treatment plan

All, thanks for all of your support and information on prior posts. This one is a little long... I...
jazzlover2 profile image

Doctor suggesting HIFU

Hello All, I was diagnosed in Oct. 2017 with Gleason score of 6 and PSA 5.8. PSA was gradually...
jbsnv profile image

Radiation Advice

Hi all! I had a Davinci RP. Five years ago. My PSA has been doubling in last 6 months. My doctor...
Portugal-2 profile image

Moderation team

Bethishere profile image
BethishereAdministrator
Number6 profile image
Number6Administrator
Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.