Minnesota's first e-Patient

Minnesota's first virtual doctor's visit was conducted Monday evening, the Pioneer Press reports. The patient, Beth Piper or Hampton, Minn., learned that sleeping pills would interact badly with another medication she uses during the seven minute Webcam-enabled discussion. Her doctor, Eric Christianson, suggested using Benadryl instead.

"It was the first real test of Online Care Anywhere, a virtual clinic that Fairview Health Services and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota launched Monday. For now, the online clinic is being tested only on Blue Cross employees such as Piper, but its creators say it will soon be a 'better, faster, cheaper' option for all Minnesotans with basic medical needs" (Olson, 12/01).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.