While the internet and its many medical practitioners have launched telemedicine from science fiction into everyday habit, the ability to see your provider from home does not always equate into being good enough for every type of medical visit. Though it is true that the foundation of a diagnosis rests on the patient’s story, there is something about face to face and the in-person interaction that improves diagnostic accuracy. It’s like comparing on-line dating to in-person. Getting to know one another through a video is helpful, but time spent together in an in-person office visit enhances the medical provider’s ability to know the patient and their needs. At Sanctuary, therefore, we require some in-office visits so that even when we do meet for on-line visits, we have a deeper understanding of your health than those who never once sit down across a desk with you or have you step up on the exam table.
Yes, for the patient, the convenience of not having to leave your home on a rainy day to fight traffic sounds like a dream come true. Yes, for the provider, the thought of having an entirely online practice with minimal overhead costs and with no commute sounds like heaven. However, there is still great value in the laying on of hands, of stethoscope, of reflex hammers, and seeing a patient in real life. Even something as simple as a rash can be challenging to deal with over a video screen.
We don’t need to meet in-person every single time that we talk to a patient, but we won’t cut corners short just to save on commute time or overhead. While you can save yourselves time and get cheaper care by going 100% online telemedicine, we will stick to the old-fashioned practice of actually examining a patient at our initial visit. From there, we can decide with you whether a follow-up visit needs another physical exam or if we can work solely online. If you follow up with us by an online appointment, we will only ask that you have another provider local (like your primary care provider) who can double check physical exam findings on those occasions when our video visit is not enough.
Coming from a practice like ours which uses telemedicine for some follow-up visits, concern about telemedicine may sound strange. What I’m worried about, however, are the problems of online-only medical practices, even if never seeing the patient in-person makes them cheaper. You will likely get what you pay for and wish you had paid for what you want instead. Healthier, more abundant lives for yourself and your family are worth the drive to the office and the extra cost of the provider’s building overhead. Don’t sell your health short on tele-promises.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Colson Potter writes copious fiction and nonfiction, including a weekly Proverbs post and his blog at Creational Story.
