Tuesday, May 17, 2016

You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine

You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine
by Austin Frakt

In this article, Austin Frakt discusses the importance of the emerging practice of telemedicine, highlighting the effect of impersonal medical care on patients. The author starts by discussing the problems and barriers present for patients when trying to schedule appointments, travel to doctor's offices, and interpreting complicated diagnoses; all of these issues, he claims, can be alleviated by the growing popularity of medicine through technology. Telemedicine “holds the promise” of giving patients and doctors time back, allowing check ups and appointments to take less time and allowing more time to be spent on diagnosis and treatment. The author discusses some of the faults of the new industry too, claiming that healthcare companies and traditional doctor’s offices are rejecting the practice.
I found this article very interesting, as the topic of medicine shifting from traditional visits to technology-based services. This is important to all people as medicine becomes accessible to all, with the promise of telemedicine having the potential to reach people in third world countries where medical care would not be available otherwise. As self-diagnosis and personal concierge medical help becomes more popular, telemedicine will eventually overshadow traditional medical services, and will become what we rely on in the future.
Overall, this article was well-written and easy to understand. It also included a lot of statistics and information from various sources, which made the article and its information more reliable and viable. I think that the author did a good job of presenting various opinions on the emerging telemedicine industry, both positive and negative. I think that this article was interesting and informative, and taught me about a topic that I would not have learned about otherwise.

Frakt, Austin. "You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2016. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/upshot/you-mean-i-dont-have-to-show-up-the-promise-of-telemedicine.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.

3 comments:

  1. Frakt, Austin. "You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2016. Web. 15 May 2016. .

    Liv gave a summary of an insightful and critical reader; the way she described the article not only showed her understanding of the topic but also engaged the reader. She was also able to accomplish by choosing an article with a gripping title. The report itself was also well-written.
    I would have liked to hear more about the methods of telemedicine--that is, what would be used to record the patient’s history? A robot or a computer? I also think it would have been interesting for Liv to elaborate on the effects of Telemedicine replacing traditional medicine. Would it reduce medical error? How would it affect the patient psychologically? Do the benefits outweigh the consequences?
    Her topic evoked these questions in me. Considering that the third largest cause for deaths in the U.S. is due to medical error, I cannot help but wonder whether this new technology would help or hurt the future of American health.

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  2. Frakt, Austin. "You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2016. Web. 15 May 2016.

    Liv did a great job on her review of “"You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine" by Austin Frakt. I particularly enjoyed how Liv broke down the author’s argument/opinion of telemedicine. She exemplified key ideas of the author. For example, she stated the following quotation: “Telemedicine ‘holds the promise’ of giving patients and doctors time back, allowing check ups and appointments to take less time and allowing more time to be spent on diagnosis and treatment. The author discusses some of the faults of the new industry too, claiming that healthcare companies and traditional doctor’s offices are rejecting the practice.” This description sums up the article beautifully and as a result I now know the stance of the author, but can also see he is not completely bias as he discusses the other side. Another element of Liv’s review that was great was her description of why she chose the article and its importance to the real world. Liv observed that this article is particularly important at this time “as the topic of medicine shifts from traditional visits to technology-based services.” She believes it “is important to all people as medicine becomes accessible to all, with the promise of telemedicine having the potential to reach people in third world countries where medical care would not be available otherwise.” By this inclusion of her opinion and possible uses for telemedicine Liv urges the reader to read more about the topic because it is very important. Lastly, I like that Liv added a prediction in her review that “telemedicine will eventually overshadow traditional medical services, and will become what we rely on in the future.” This quote indicts Liv has done outside research perhaps on this topic and truly believes this is the future. Overall, her review demonstrates that Liv did not pick this article at random. Instead, she chose it because it was something she truly cared about and felt would be fascinating to share on the blog.
    However some places of improvement are her definition of terms and inclusion of quotes from the author. In regards to my critique of her defining terms, I mean that she did not define “telemedicine” right away. At least for me, I have never heard this word, so in the future defining a key term like this sooner would definitely increase the comprehensibility of her review. For the other improvement of her lack of quotes from the article, the improvement is simple: add more quotes. More quotes in the words of the author would demonstrate the author’s opinion in his words as opposed to the paraphrased words of Liv.
    This review was a fascinating one to read. As technology advances more and more things are becoming easily accessible whether that be your groceries being ordered online or, as this review explains, having your doctor’s visit online. As a result, this article and its review is very important. I have learned so much and this review demonstrates how technology is changing and will change our lives. I personally am interested in medicine so this review was so interesting to me. The impact technology can have on us is incredible and I am astonished at how far science and medicine have come in just the last twenty years.

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  3. Frakt, Austin. "You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2016. Web. 15 May 2016. .

    Liv’s review of, You Mean I Don’t Have to Show Up? The Promise of Telemedicine, was captivating and very interesting to read. First of all, I liked how Liv put in many details in her review about this new practice and gave a thorough definition of telemedicine. As it allowed me to understand more about the article that she was reviewing, since I had no idea what telemedicine actually was before reading her review. Furthermore, the fact that she stated some positive aspects of telemedicine made the review even more interesting as I got to understand telemedicine even more through its practical aspects. Finally, Liv did a very good job explaining what this article meant for the world. By stating that this new practice of medicine could possibly open new doors in third world countries was captivating. It was a very good point and added even more information to her review.
    However, even though this review was well written, when Liv said that, “The author discusses some of the faults of the new industry too…” I thought that she was going to put some of those faults in her review, so I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t, and that instead she ended that first paragraph a bit quickly. So if she had put some of those negative aspects too,in addition to the positive aspects, the review would have been a bit more concrete and thorough. In addition, even though she gives us a very good idea of what telemedicine is, she did not say what would be used to replace the traditional appointments, which would have helped made her review on telemedicine even more detailed. Thus, by adding that piece of information, the review could be even more understandable.
    In conclusion, this review was well written and captivating to read. This was the first time I read about something like that and when I saw the title I knew this was the article I wanted to read and that I wanted to know more about this topic. I thought it was a great thing that telemedicine could bring medicinal care to third world countries, although I am a bit worried that this is the first step in changing our world forever, digitizing everything. Overall, this changed my view because if we now have the ability to do this, we have the ability to do so many other great things and help so many people across the globe.

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