Comments on: FreeMD.com’s Free Medical Horoscope

By: really

really — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:50:54 +0000

Just read the comment from Dr. Schueler and learn. This system is used with millions of VA patients over 8 years. Medicine is changing and you better be prepared.

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blogs/valjonesmd/diagnosis-without-phy-14548?page=2

By: Dragonfly

Dragonfly — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:39:48 +0000

I certainly wouldn’t want my mother being “seen” by this system.

By: enrico

enrico — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:39:03 +0000

Kim: If he snapped a pair of gloves on, that’d be the ultimate. LOL!

Val: Let’s just say you were passionate about the issue. Excellent points raised.

Celeste: My understanding in the ER is presumably it’d be part of the total bill or free if they genuinely determined you didn’t need any care (unlikely). As for PCP time outside of a group practice where one would have call/night clinic, I don’t know, but if it was reporting something related to a recent office visit, I can’t see really charging much if at all. A cold call would be another story.

Happy: I hadn’t even thought of that (student’s POV: legal/financial incentives aren’t at the forefront) and it makes a good point. Still, I’d like to think that the prospect of losing a loved one would be more persuasive than being served with a lawsuit.

By: The Happy Hospitalist

The Happy Hospitalist — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:16 +0000

The difference between putting the system into your ER lobby and trusting the system with your wife or your mother, is that your wife and mother is unlikely to sue you.

By: Celeste

Celeste — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:51:24 +0000

How much does a triage cost?

By: Dr. Val

Dr. Val — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:15:44 +0000

Good points Enrico. I’m not sure “fire breathing” is exactly right – but I feel that the tool is misleading and irresponsible. Many “symptom checkers” abound on the Internet, and provide an educational service – but this very simplistic algorithm POSES as medical advice and over-promises what it cannot deliver.

A much more robust and better developed screening tool was designed over the past decade by PKC Corp – and their questions take 20+ minutes to get to a reasonable answer. Of course, no one is willing to spend that amount of time on an online survey. So there you have it… the amount of detail necessary to get to a potentially correct answer is beyond the attention span of “Interweb users” – yet another reason why people need to see their doctors to get the truth teased out.

Oh, and Internet usage is way up in the 50-70y age group. Complicated issues will come up – if not by the patient, but the patient’s family member trying to research things for him/her.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:44:58 +0000

I don’t know about you but after the “doctor” asks you a question he gives you a weird ass look, it kinda creeps me out…