telehealth is the future.
For a total cost of $351 I am getting:
…
this particular one is very specialized but this is at least the second time I’ve seen telehealth services being far cheaper than in person doctors + my insurance. insanely cheaper, and not only that, I only registered for the service 2 days ago, I already have seen my doctor, and have meds in my hand.
I can’t emphasize enough how often telehealth has failed or resulted in poor care for the patients I’ve taken care of in the ER.
why do you think that is?
Different reasons for different things:
Telehealth works well for my kid though because I can do a physician level exam and have them answer my question. Did that for a bad diaper rash I wasn’t sure what to do with
Thing is this is America and even if you have good insurance it takes 90+ days most of the time to see a doctor. This is extra true for mental health stuff where it simply may not be available period.
This is one of those spots where I think your perch in the ER is warping your perspective. You see stuff when it goes wrong basically… and that’s not me trying to crap on your perspective, I actually think it’s impossible to avoid having your view on reality shaped by what you see day in and day out… and you’re an ER doc. You see a lot of statistically somewhat unlikely worst case scenarios.
is it worse than if the patient had not been seen at all?
yeah I don’t think anyone is claiming that telehealth is perfect and will be the solution to every possible scenario
Partly this is fair, but I don’t see when it goes wrong only. Tons of people hate the telehealth. I see lots of cases where they come into the ER because they don’t trust whatever happened in the telehealth appointment too.
i dont see why it can’t be hybrid - seems better for both doctors and patients to be able to just hop on a quick call for consult + meds rather than having to schedule it out weeks/months in advance and spend the large part of a day going in and seeing the doctor for them to just write a prescription
Literally just did this today with dlk9s jr. He talked about the issue he’d been having, the doc said stop taking this, start taking this, here’s what to do if this happens, etc., and that was that.
Therapy (psych) seems to be one of the best uses for telemed, as the doc doesn’t need to touch the patient. My kid has been seeing a therapist and we recently switched to one who does virtual appointments (we didn’t switch for that reason specifically) and it’s been so much easier.
i tried teletherapy. i dont’ have anything in-person to compare it to, but i did not find it helpful
Well, that’s a you problem. Just kidding, who knows - could be therapy isn’t your bag, the therapist was no good, or maybe in person is better (I suspect in person is better, but I also suspect remote can be pretty close, relative to other branches of medicine).
So far, so good for my kid, at least.
yeah it was mostly me not having good rapport with either therapist i met
That’s true. In the wide world of everything that can be tele-networked though, medicine doesn’t really lend itself to that too much. It very quickly needs to interact with the physical world and in ways that a layman doesn’t understand, you very quickly run into things that a video visit can’t solve.
Maybe make more nurse or medic centric and gear it more explicitly towards being a quick consulting guide so you don’t have to get charged thousands at the ER or have to make plans with the PCP.
One of my doctors is over 2,000 miles away. Telemedicine sure beats driving an hour to the airport and then hitching a 5-hour flight (and back). I had to travel there for the physical exam and some specialized testing, but it’s mainly just discussing lab results, symptoms, and treatment options now. Of course my insurance refuses to pay for any of it which sort of kills the point of long-distance medicine.
Another appointment I have is being seen locally every six months for an Rx refill. Going there in person was a several hour commitment due to traffic / logistics, so Zoom has been extremely convenient. What I can’t imagine is trying to do a telemedicine consult for anything that relies on the physical exam or test you’d need to be present for.
https://twitter.com/hannahwanebo/status/1540742991941455873
So is this PR or the real deal what Marc Cuban is doing here?
My dad and I looked up some prices and they are pretty good. You can see them without signing up.
I don’t take anything too expensive, but the site has prices better or comparable to what I pay with insurance. Seems great for people without prescription benefits or with really expensive medications.
The retail prices are 100% bs, but it still seems like a good deal.
Looking at website - seems like it just sell cheap generic drugs (not that that’s a bad thing).
Just looked up one of my prescriptions that I am picking up from Walgreens this weekend. It’s cheap: $26.74 for a 90-day supply with my insurance.
At Cuban’s site, it’s $13.80 + $5.00 shipping = $18.80.
Looking up a couple for my wife, one is $41.62 with insurance, Cuban is charging $16.10 counting shipping.
They don’t have everything (can’t find one for my kid), but looks pretty good so far.
Cuban’s website is 100% legit good fucking deals.
Retail near me for imatinib is 120-10k (lol) with most being 120-700 per goodrx
Actual real competition in meds would be such a good thing for everyone.