Are You Ready for Diagnosis and Treatment Online?

Kaiser Health News, published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, has written a short piece about the expanding online relationship between doctors and patients.  Here it is, in its entirety:
A new venture called Zipnosis allows patients to receive diagnoses and prescriptions online for $25, The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reports.  "Minneapolis-based Zipnosis thinks it is onto the latest innovation in convenient health care for minor ailments like common colds, allergies or bladder infections.  Led by Rick Krieger, who co-founded a company that became MinuteClinic, Zipnosis started a one-year pilot this month with local provider Park Nicollet Health Services.  Already, more than 300 people statewide have used the service. Consumers fill out Zipnosis' survey online, and two nurse practitioners on duty at Park Nicollet's Quick Check center review the answers and send back a diagnosis.  But there are skeptics.  Some local doctors say they wouldn't recommend Zipnosis to their patients for fear of misdiagnosis.  The company's goal is to be in 15 states by fall 2011".

I think, either as a patient or a doctor, I’m skeptical, too.  A face-to-face with a health professional is often needed, even if it’s only to reduce the risk of a misdiagnosis leading to a health tragedy, with all its possible legal consequences.  Maybe in the next decade!