James Wilder is a social worker in the Charleston area who values his time at work and with his family. When James felt himself coming down with a cold, his wife urged him to see a doctor, but James was reluctant. He didn't want to have to make an appointment, sit in a waiting room with other sick patients (possibly getting exposed to something worse than his own illness), and take time off from his schedule to see a doctor. His wife then found him an alternative: to see a doctor through a telehealth app.
Not long after James downloaded the app and entered his medical information, he was chatting face-to-face with Dr. Bryon Frost, Medical Director of Information Technology and Emergency Medicine Physician at McLeod Health. Dr. Frost was able to not only diagnose James’s condition, but also prescribe James's medication to treat his cold.
Dr. Frost says that although telehealth intimidated him at first because of its lack of physical contact with the patient, he now finds that seeing patients virtually tends to be more successful, in terms of the patient’s comfort level, as well as the doctor’s ability to use high-tech equipment to provide the same quality visit, as if the appointment had been in person.