To the Editor:
In “Modern Doctors’ House Calls: Skype Chat and Fast Diagnosis” (front page, July 12), you quote a virtualist physician who says, “I don’t have people knocking on the door and saying, ‘Doc, we need you in another room.’”
Why, then, does the accompanying photo show an employee at the same company sitting in front of eight computer screens like an air traffic controller?
There is value in a physician’s being in the same room as a patient. There is value in knowing a patient’s history, background, medication history and stressors.
A good doctor respects nuance. Watching a patient walk, sensing his demeanor, feeling her rash, seeing her tremor and feeling his pulse contribute to making a correct diagnosis; these physical signs cannot be ascertained by a stranger on a screen.
A “trustworthy face” chosen online is not equivalent to an in-person, patient-physician relationship developed over time. It never will be.
SHARON LEWIN
New York
The writer is an internist and infectious disease specialist.
