Chinese University professor Frank Tong was worried: 'I hope I don't need to take my clothes off.' Professor Tong, 'the patient', was sitting in his university office being examined by Professor Magnus Hjelm, chairman of the department of chemical pathology at Prince of Wales Hospital. The difference from a regular consultation was that Professor Hjelm was six kilometres away.
The two professors were taking part in a demonstration of one of the latest technological marvels on the health scene: telemedicine or long-distance consultation, which the Chinese University plans to bring to Hong Kong and China.
Two sets of US$5,000 (about HK$38,500) video-cameras and radios linked up the two men, beaming the image of Professor Tong (of the university's department of information engineering) as he opened his mouth wide, to Professor Hjelm's Sha Tin office.
But what if something more drastic than sticking one's tongue out had been required? What if somebody else is watching? Patient confidentiality and privacy are two of the many areas the university's task force for telemedicine will need to address before the technology can be used to save lives and money in Hong Kong and China.
The basic idea of telemedicine, or satellite conferencing, is to link doctors and patients, using modern communications technology, sometimes via satellite, so that expertise can be made instantly available, regardless of distance.
It is being hailed as the best way to provide safeguards as well as save patient and specialist time, and consequently money. It is ideal for doctors wanting a second opinion and patients suffering diseases which make travelling difficult. In the United States, this method of providing health care has already been tested. In Texas, it is used in the prison system, where patients are examined by doctors and specialists located at urban hospitals.