Cleveland Clinic Offers a Second Opinion Online for $565

From Washington Post:

A patient with mitral valve prolapse was prepared to fly to Cleveland to get a second opinion regarding the need for surgery until she realized that the consult can be done online.

"My Consult" is a secure web-based second opinion service offered by the Cleveland Clinic. For $565, a staff physician provides a consultation and treatment recommendation within a week.

Dr. Harris, who is the chief information officer of the Cleveland Clinic, says that the hospital has been working on the second opinion program for three years.

Limitations of the Online Second Opinion

Not all states are covered, the Clinic second opinion (or E-pinion, as The Washington Post calls it) is not available in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

Few insurance companies pay for the web-based second opinions.

What happened in the end?

The Cleveland Clinic specialist recommended surgery. After some time and a few more tests, the patient and her doctors agreed that, indeed, that was the best option.

Bloggers Matter

Washington Post has a new feature called "Who's Blogging?" with links to bloggers who posted about the article. KidneyNotes, who reported the story first, is listed in this Technorati-powered section.



The Clinical Cases and Images - Blog was a close second:



This type of blogs exposure gives the Washington Post readers a chance to get a broader view of what other people think about a particular article.

It is also a smart marketing move by the newspaper because it may stimulate bloggers to link more often to Washington Post articles.

References:
Second E-pinion. The Washington Post.
Second opinion counts for a lot. USA Today, 3/12/2006.
Image source: eClevelandClinic, The Washington Post.

Related:
Talk To a Doctor Now: Online! ScienceRoll.com, 03/2008.

Updated: 03/21/2008