Telepsychiatry

(Kennebec, Maine) The ghost of "Call Me Now" Cleo has resurfaced. The State of Maine is instituting a telecommunications-assisted psychiatric program to serve people throughout remote areas of the state. According to the Kennebec Journal, here's how it works:

Arrive for a telepsychiatry appointment, and you'll be seated in front of what looks like a large-screen television, and handed a remote control.

A doctor will appear on the screen, and you may notice a camera at the top of the screen swinging your way, getting your face and body in the psychiatrist's sight. Using the $11,000 equipment, he can zoom in to look closely at your face, or pull the camera back to take in the entire room, including family members who might be seated nearby.

Likewise, with your remote, you can do the same to the doctor.

So, the patient does the doctor and the doctor does the patient and both have remote controls and large-screen televisions. Chalk up another advance in modern medicine.

The Medical Director of the Maine Telepsychiatry Initiative, Dr. Edward Pontius, is piloting the program which adds to an existing telemedicine network in Maine. Dr. Pontius admits that there are drawbacks with telepsychiatry. Specifically, gone are the advantages of face-to-face sessions such as detecting "fruity-smelling breath" which might indicate a disease such as diabetes or noticing unusual body language or nervous ticks.

It seems that 21st Century medicine in the U.S. is trending more and more toward being practiced via television screens and email.