Therapy Over IP Draws the Young, Isolated 93
Lucas123 writes "Psychiatrists say VoIP technology is more popular with patients than even in-person therapy when it comes to counseling — especially for their younger patients who are less intimidated by it. Along with many patients who like the convenience, telepsychiatry is a necessity for others who live in rural areas or are in, prisons, nursing homes or hospital ICUs. 'We've had just over 60,000 patient encounters. To my knowledge, only six have refused to be seen via teleconferencing,' said Dr. Avrim Fishkind, an emergency psychiatrist. 'We're tailor made for telemedicine because we don't check people's livers. We just talk.'" I wonder whether Eliza can be sued for practicing medicine without a license.
Re:This actually seems like a good idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Privacy Implications are Horrible (Score:4, Insightful)
This is truly a privacy disaster in the making.
No psychiatrist willing to put their patients in a position this vulnerable should keep their license. Even if the entire session is fully encrypted, the patient has no ability to tell whether the psychiatrist is recording, has other people in the room, etc...