Online Doctor Visits More Effective Than Physical Ones, Study Finds
For the study -- conducted by Dr. Beverly B. Green at Group Health in Seattle -- 778 patients with high blood pressure were split into three separate groups. One continued their usual treatments, which included visits to a doctor's office. The second group received home monitoring kits and training via Web sites on how to regulate their blood pressure. The final group received home monitoring kits and training as well, but also were able to e-mail their test results to pharmacists, and the pharmacists were able to adjust prescriptions based on those e-mails. Surprisingly it's the last group that did best, with more than half bringing their blood pressure in check, while only a third of those patients assigned to the first two groups were able to do the same.
Some will surely see this as another step away from the friendly and familiar doctor of yore, but for quick follow-ups and other similar appointments, these sorts of house calls could not only save huge amounts of time for patients, but money as well. [Source: Reuters]
