VOA慢速英語:Need a Doctor? Turn on Your Electronic Device

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

Telemedicine is the name for when doctors give advice to patients by telephone or the Internet, or when health care providers in rural areas connect with specialists in big cities.

遠程醫(yī)療是指醫(yī)生通過電話或互聯網診治病人，或者是指農村地區(qū)的醫(yī)療機構與大城市的專家取得聯系。

Telemedicine has existed for a long time, but the rise of smartphone, tablets and webcam-equiped computers is raising telemedicine to new levels. Some health care systems in the United States now offer Virtual Urgent Care, patients see a doctor by video chat without having to leave home.

遠程醫(yī)療已經存在很長一段時間了，但智能手機、平板電腦以及帶攝像頭電腦的興起將遠程醫(yī)療提升到一個新的水平。美國的一些醫(yī)療系統現在開始提供虛擬急診，病人無需離家就能通過視頻聊天看醫(yī)生。

Diana Rae is a nurse educator in the western state of Washington. She recently demonstrated how Virtual Urgent Care works. She used a iPad tablet and skype -- the video chat service.

戴安娜·瑞伊(Diana Rae)是美國西部的華盛頓州的一位護理教育家。她最近演示了虛擬急診如何運作。她使用了一臺iPad平板電腦和Skype視頻聊天軟件。

"Hi, yes, my name is doctor Ben Green, among the doctors with Franciscan Virtual Urgent Care."

“你好，我是圣方濟教會虛擬急診的本·格林醫(yī)生。”

Doctor Green has the patient describe her symptoms, then the doctor performs a physical exam by demonstrating what he wants her to do.

格林醫(yī)生讓病人描述她的癥狀，然后醫(yī)生通過演示患者需要怎么做，進行了一次體檢。

Doctor Green decides that the problem is a silence infection. For medicine, he prescribes an antibiotic. He says about 3 out 4 patients have health problems that can be treated like this -- through Virtual Urgent Care, that means a video chat could replace a visit to the doctor's office.

格林醫(yī)生診斷認為這是一次無癥狀感染，他開了抗生素給患者服用。他說，75%患者的病癥可能通過虛擬急診來診治，這意味著可以通過視頻聊天就診，而無需去醫(yī)生辦公室。

"Patient safety is really important to us. So if we feel like the patient is not safe to be treated in this manner, we're going to suggest other alternatives for them," said Doctor Green.

格林醫(yī)生說，“患者安全對我們非常重要。所以如果我們覺得病人通過這種方式診治不太安全，我們就會建議他們采取其它替代方案。”

The Franciscan Health System is based in Tacoma, Washington. Franciscan charges $35 for this kind of virtual house call, that is much less than the cost of going to an emergency room, a doctor's office or an urgent care clinic.

圣方濟教會醫(yī)療系統的總部設在華盛頓州的塔科馬市。圣方濟教會對這種虛擬出診收取35美元的費用，這遠遠低于去急診室、醫(yī)生辦公室或急救診所診治的費用。

After trying the video conference, Diana Rae says she would been happy to pay the 35$, when she was recently home with a bad cold.

在嘗試過視頻診治后，瑞伊表示，當她最近在家嚴重感冒時，她很樂意支付這35美元診金，

"I would've paid twice that for the convenience of getting taken care of without having to sit in a waiting room, wait, and get exposed to everyone else's germs," Rae said.

瑞伊說，“我愿意為這么方便的治療掏雙倍價錢，因為我無需到等待室干等，也不會被其他病人傳染。”

Franciscan operates hospitals, clinics and a hospice for end-of-life care. Franciscan has a deal with a company called Carena to add virtual urgent care by Skype or phone. Carena is one of several companies doing this kind of work around the country. But a company official says state rules have not kept progress with developments in telemedicine.

圣方濟教會開辦了醫(yī)院、診所和臨終安養(yǎng)院。圣方濟教會和卡倫娜公司合作，通過Skype或電話提供虛擬急診?？▊惸裙臼窃诿绹鞯貜氖逻@類業(yè)務的幾家公司之一。但該公司的一位官員表示，美國的政策和未能跟上遠程醫(yī)療的發(fā)展。

The workers who provide virtual urgent care must be separately licensed in each state where the company does business. For now, that means Carena doctors can treat patients in Washington state and California for example, but not in neighboring Oregon or Idaho.

提供虛擬急診的員工必須在該公司營業(yè)的各個州分別取得許可。目前這意味著卡倫娜公司的醫(yī)生例如可以接診華盛頓州或加利福尼亞州的患者，但不包括鄰近的俄勒岡州或愛達荷州的患者。