Remote medicine ready for prime time?

The flip answer is yes. Didn't you see House after the Super Bowl?

Since I last wrote about this a week ago, there has been a flood of new publicity in this area.

Much of the push is fueled by Cisco, which has a medical telepresence system dubbed HealthPresence to sell. The Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland has a unit, and they're already thinking of going beyond the current test.

As The Guardian notes remote medicine has been around for ages. Radio News described this futuristic approach to diagnosis back in 1924.

While technology pushed it forward in the 1990s cost pressures are pushing it now. Problem is, Cisco hasn't yet priced HealthPresence. Hard data is hard to come by.

That's the aim of the Aberdeen trial. Get hard data, think about expansion, and test to see whether this approach medicine does indeed save money.

Another approach to the same aim is for the doctor to go to the patient and bring the technology as a back-up. How would that work for you?

So, are you ready to do a remote diagnosis? Or is this still just for TV doctors?[poll id=13]