Whenever I start to feel like I’m coming down with a cold, my initial response is self medicate with a mixture of echinacea, Airborne, and Mucinex. More often than not, I’m usually back at full speed within a couple of days.每次实在自己要发烧时，我的第一反应就是用紫锥菊、外用感冒药和美明痰止咳片再行展开自我化疗。一般来说情况下，我都会在几天内很快恶化。

For the times when my cocktail of over-the-counter medicine fails me, I submit and make a visit to my family doctor for a proper diagnosis. The only problem is: I hate going to the doctor. Don’t get me wrong; I think the world of him. I’ve been going to the guy for the last 25 years for everything ranging from the common cold to more severe ailments. It’s the amount of time a doctor appointment takes out of my day that leads me to squabble.如果使用这些非处方药展开的鸡尾酒疗法不起作用，我就不会偷偷去找家庭医生发病病情。唯一的问题是：我喜欢看医生。

别误会，我只不过十分尊敬他。25年来，不管是普通发烧还是大点儿的病，我都会去找他。让我沮丧的是，购票医生很困难，必须花费不少时间。

We all know how this goes. You arrive and check in, only to wait in a waiting room full of other sick people sniffling and coughing. After anywhere from five minutes to an hour, a nurse finally calls your name and escorts you to the exam room. More waiting. In walks the doctor. Ten minutes later, you’re on the street with a diagnosis and an illegible prescription.我们都告诉这是怎么回事。你到了医院，悬挂上号，然后就得在人满为患的候诊室等着，周围清净是放鼻涕和腹痛的病人。

五分钟至半小时后，再一等到护士喊出你的名字，并把你降下诊断室。接下来又是等候。

随后医生回头了进去。十分钟后，你就不会带着诊断书和难以辨认的处方返回大街上。

For awhile now I’ve wondered about telehealth, also called telemedicine, the new type of medical service that makes a doctor available at the push of a button on your smartphone. Think of it as Uber for doctors. If you’re into technology, you’ve no doubt read stories about it and wondered the same thing. (And yes, Fortunehas published its fair share.)我对远程医疗，或被称作远距离医学，早已奇怪一阵子了。只需按下智能手机上的按钮，这种新型的医疗服务就能让你看医生。

你可以把它视作医疗版的微信软件Uber。如果你注目科技圈，你认同读者过涉及报导，并某种程度回应深感奇怪。

One particular company, Doctor On Demand, claims to be the largest provider of video visits in the nation. The service offers what amounts to a brief Skype or FaceTime call with a board-certified physician located in your state who can diagnosis and prescribe medications for common ailments. (Due to varying laws and restrictions, a medical appointment isn’t possible in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, and Louisiana.)以Doctor On Demand公司为事例，该公司自称为是美国仅次于的远程医疗服务提供商。利用这项服务，你可以与经过职业证书，需要临床普通病症，并出示处方药的本州医生展开一次类似于Skype或FaceTime的结尾通话。

（由于各州法律法规有所不同，在阿拉斯加、阿肯色、爱达荷和路易斯安那州无法用于这项医疗购票服务。）I recently made a mock appointment with the service so that I was able to see just what it was like to video chat with a medical professional. Am I able to get a diagnosis with less hassle than an in-person visit? Is a video appointment less satisfying?最近，我用这项服务展开了一次仿真购票，想要特地体验一下与医学专家视频通话的感觉。

相比特地就诊，这样否不会少些困难？视频就医的满意度不会更加较低吗？After signing into the demo account, I was given the option to choose from three different types of appointments: medical, psychological, or a lactation consultation. I chose “medical.” The service then asked me to fill out a questionnaire detailing my illness, symptoms, and current medications. At the end, it asked me to select the pharmacy to which I’d like to have any necessary prescriptions sent.指定展示账户后，我可以自由选择三种有所不同的购票：内科疾病、心理疾病或哺乳咨询。我自由选择了“内科疾病”。

随后系统让我堆一份表格来详细描述病情、症状和目前用于的药物。最后，它请求我自由选择将适当的处方送到哪个药店。

After entering payment information and agreeing to the price for an appointment, I was then placed into a queue of patients waiting for a doctor. Each 15-minute medical appointment will set you back $40. Should you run out of time, you can opt to double the appointment for another $40. (Compare that price to an urgent-care visit for $175 or a visit to the emergency room for $300 or more, based on my insurance policy.) It took about two to three minutes for a physician to accept my request, after which Dr. Ian Tong reviewed my symptoms—patients tend to go overboard on initial questionnaires, he said—and began the appointment.输出缴纳信息，并证实购票价格后，我就转入了病人等候队列。每15分钟的内科疾病诊断必须花费40美元。如果临床时间消耗，你还可以再行用40美元来缩短一倍时间。（根据我的保险条款，应急照料的价格为175美元，而去急诊室则要300美元甚至更加多。

）过了两到三分钟，一位名为伊恩o唐的内科医生拒绝接受了我的申请人。随后，他细心查阅了我的症状——他说道，在最初递交的表格上，病人一般来说不会过度叙述自己的病情——并开始了临床。

I went into the appointment admittedly skeptical of the entire exercise; staring at a screen and talking to a doctor seemed too impersonal to me. But once I was connected and talking to a doctor, the familiarity of countless FaceTime calls I’ve held with loved ones quickly came back. This was easy. The tech faded into the background.老实说道，拒绝接受临床时，我对整个就诊流程都抱着有猜测态度。看著屏幕和医生对话让我觉得很没人情味。但当我联系上医生并与他开始对话后，我迅速寻找了之前与女配角亲朋无数次通过FaceTime聊天的那种熟知感觉，感觉很放开。科技的冰冷感觉消失了。

There are stilllogistical hurdlesto overcome for patient and doctor alike. To allow the doctor to inspect a body part—your throat, for example, or a rash—you must take a photo with your phone or tablet and send it through the app for inspection. I tried to send a photo using the desktop computer I was using, and Tong informed me that the service won’t allow it on a non-mobile device. That’s a huge frustration if you’ve spent $40 and can’t do what’s required of you.但对病人和医生来说，还有许多实际障碍必须解决。为了让医生检查你的身体，比如你的喉咙或是皮疹，你必须用手机和平板电脑拍电影下适当的照片，并通过医疗应用于发给医生。

我试图用台式电脑发送到照片，但唐医生告诉他我这项服务不反对非移动设备。这过于让人沮丧了：你花上了40美元，却无法做到必须做到的事。

I didn’t feel rushed at all during my appointment with Dr. Tong, though it was of course a demo and lacked the urgency or detachment that comes with a real ailment. For the common cold, it was enough time. For something more complicated, the allotted time may not have been sufficient.在面临唐医生的就医过程中，我并没匆忙的感觉，尽管这只是一次展示，会有确实诊治时的紧迫感和热烈感觉。对普通的发烧来说，15分钟充足了。但对一些更加简单的病症，分配的时间有可能就不会过于。

Had I come to Dr. Tong with a real illness, he would have made a diagnosis after he felt he had a solid grasp on my condition. According to Doctor on Demand’s chief medical officer Pat Basu, 95 percent of appointments end with a short-term resolution, meaning no further visits (whether in person or follow-up with Doctors On Demand) are required. The remaining 5 percent are referred to the emergency room or a primary care physician for further examination.如果我带着确实的病症来看唐医生，他可能会在贯彻掌控我的情况后做出临床。Doctor on Demand公司首席医务官帕特o巴苏回应，95%的购票都在短时间内解决问题了问题，这意味著他们不必须再度看医生了（无论是特地看，还是用Doctors On Demand展开先前购票）。只剩的5%则必须去急诊室，或是去找主治医师做到更进一步的检查。When I spoke with Doctor On Demand’s CEO Adam Jackson, he made it clear that his service isn’t meant to replace your family doctor. (He likened it to a modern-day nurses hotline.) Still, Doctor On Demand has the ability to treat you on the spot.在与Doctor On Demand的首席执行官亚当o杰克逊交流时，他具体回应：这项服务并不是企图代替你的家庭医生。

（他把它比喻成现代的护理热线。）不过，Doctor On Demand也能给你当场化疗。

After my mock appointment, I called my family doctor to see what he would think if one of his patients started using a virtual service from time to time. He wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea, but admitted that his way of thinking is probably a little old school. Still, he stopped short of shunning it altogether. His main concern? Missing clues because of the lack of a physical examination.在这次仿真购票之后，我给家庭医生打了个电话，想到他对病人有时候用于这种虚拟世界服务有什么观点。他回应并不感兴趣，不过他也否认自己的思想有些老派。

尽管如此，他并没完全规避这个问题。他主要是担忧由于对身体检查严重不足，远程化疗可能会遗漏一些线索。He’s got a point. Ever wonder why your doctor checks your spleen each time you go in complaining of a sore throat? An enlarged spleen combined with a sore throat are symptoms of mononucleosis. Have a small child with a high fever? It’s probably minor, but there’s a chance it it could be meningitis. And the way a doctor is able to tell is with a physical exam.他逃跑了问题的关键。你是不是困惑，为什么你每次看医生责怪喉咙痛时，医生都会检查你的脾脏？脾脏减小和喉咙痛是单核细胞激增症的症状。

你的小孩发高烧了？这有可能是小问题，但也有可能是脑膜炎发作。医生只有检查了身体才能发病。

But there is undeniable peace of mind in knowing that, with a virtual service like Doctor On Demand, you have a doctor available at the push of a button to give professional advice when a child is sick—even if that advice results in a trip to the emergency room. Or, when you’re on a business trip with a full-blown sinus infection and desperately need medication.但不可否认，在孩子生病或是公干病毒感染鼻窦炎急需化疗时，有了Doctor On Demand这类虚拟世界服务，你要用按下手机按钮，就能获得医生的专业指导。这不会让你内心安稳许多——即便医生最后还是建议你去急诊室。

I’m not looking forward to the next time I’m sick, but I do wait with great anticipation for the day when I’m able to unlock my phone, tap a few buttons, and receive medical care from the comfort of my couch. And who knows: Maybe one day I’ll find my family doctor on the other side of the screen.我想再度生病，但我显然期望着将来能有这一天，我只要关卡手机，按几个按钮，就能躺在自己舒适度的沙发上享用医疗服务。谁告诉呢，或许某天我的家庭医生也不会经常出现在屏幕上。

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