Liberated from Insurance? Part 6- Telemedicine

An option that might be even cheaper than a direct pay doctor might be a doctor which will "see" you over the computer or telephone.  These doctors request information from you about your health history, listen to your symptoms, and then provide advice and/or treatment.  If the doctor feels your history or symptoms warrant it, you will be advised to see a doctor face to face or head to the emergency room.  If your problem is as simple as a sinus infection, then the doctor might call in a prescription to your local pharmacy.  The woman I spoke to on the phone at one such company stated that they will treat people of all ages including children.  At this time, they do not treat chronic conditions.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand for MrLivingOurWay and myself, we usually know what's going on before we go to the doctor and we just need the antibiotic to fix it.  On the other hand, I'm not sure how I feel about treating my children this way since we don't really always know what is going on with them. I took a FindingOurWay to the doctor for an ear infection once and came home with a positive strep test.  However, I can see where this might prevent some unnecessary expenses we've had in the past such as when I called 911 over a busted lip when our oldest FindingOurway was just under two years old (no one told me that a busted lip could bleed so much!) or the time when I took the middle FindingOurWay to urgent care over a piece of ear wax when she was 4 months old.

This service could cost as little as $180 per year for an entire family.

How do you feel about telemedicine? Would you consider using it?