Editorial | Why telemedicine is worth embracing

An example of the saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same, has long been a visit to the doctor. Computers may have replaced typewriters and handwritten treatment records, and technology may have revolutionised diagnosis. But private face-to-face consultations, the core of the doctor-patient relationship, have withstood the test of time, until now. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in even longer waits for non-emergency hospital appointments and reluctance by fearful patients to visit doctors and hospitals. The result is the accelerated emergence of telemedicine – online facetime with doctors without leaving home already used in some places for remote consultations.

Telemedicine is still a new idea for Hongkongers, unlike in Europe and the United States, where the devastating Covid-19 contagion has prompted fast-tracking of a trend towards virtual consultations to improve access to health care. In the words of one British family doctor, the pandemic has wrought the equivalent of a decade of change in one week. The pandemic has made technology indispensable to general treatment. Hong Kong is catching up.

More than 30 patients have tried a telemedical service launched last month in the East Kowloon hospital cluster, mainly in ear, nose and throat clinics. Unlike the US and mainland China, which have been using telemedicine to screen and treat Covid-19 patients, Hong Kong has launched the services for general consultation only. Telemedicine has been a revelation for general primary health care in the US and Europe, where there are plans for the prompt treatment of everyday illnesses and diagnoses of problems that might otherwise lead to serious illness and even loss of life.

Dr Peter Ku Ka-ming, chief of service of the ear, nose, and throat departments at the United Christian and Tseung Kwan O hospitals, said the new service targeted patients who need limited internal inspections, or those whose wounds could be observed externally.

Telemedicine is still developing. It is no substitute for a doctor’s many years of training and experience in face-to-face assessments of patients. But its potential for the benefit of patients and doctors is huge. It is technology the city should embrace to broaden access to health care and minimise exposure to infection.