At a session at the American Psychoanalytic Association meeting here, Leli said he conducted his first Skype analysis with a Chinese patient in 2004.

"When I did my first Skype analysis, I had many doubts," he said. "Will the analytic process develop? Will there be language differences? Cultural differences?"

He soon began to feel that the Skype analysis was "similar to any type of analysis."

via medpagetoday.com

Modern technology can be used to reach and help patients around the world, not just in the doctors office. This example involved a Physicians office in New York and a patient in China for psychoanalysis, both talking on Skype via phone and video.

It's amazing what can be done these days. And then I recall that my own PCP insists on office visits and will barely even use the telephone, except in dire necessity for phoning in a prescription to the local pharmacy.   SMS?  Never, which is a great shame.

That said, I think it's great that Skype is a great start – imagine what could be done down the line with Cisco's Telepresence?

Posted via web from sally church's posterous