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

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.
远程医疗是指医生通过电话或互联网给患者诊断，或者是指农村地区的医疗机构与大城市的专家联系。

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.
远程医疗已经存在很长一段时间了，但随着智能手机、平板电脑以及带摄像头电脑的兴起，远程医疗达到了一个新的水平。现在，美国的一些医疗系统开始提供虚拟急诊，病人不必离开家就能通过视频聊天看医生。

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.
Diana Rae是美国西部的华盛顿州的一位护理教育家。最近，她演示了虚拟急诊如何工作。她使用了一台iPad平板电脑和Skype的视频聊天服务。

"Hi, yes, my name is doctor Ben Green, among the doctors with Franciscan Virtual Urgent Care."
“你好，我是圣方济教会虚拟急诊的Ben Green医生。”

Doctor Green has the patient describe her symptoms, then the doctor performs a physical exam by demonstrating what he wants her to do.
Green医生让病人描述她的症状，然后医生通过演示患者需要怎么做，进行一次体检。

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.
Green医生诊断认为这是一次无症状感染，他给病人开了抗生素药。他说，约四分之三的患者可通过虚拟急诊来诊治，这意味着可以通过视频聊天取代去医院就诊。

"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.
“患者安全对我们来说非常重要。因此，如果我们觉得病人通过这种方式诊治不太安全，我们就会建议他们采取其它替代方案。”

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.
圣方济教会医疗系统的总部设在华盛顿州的塔科马市。圣方济教会对这种虚拟出诊收取35美元的费用，这远远低于去急诊室、医生办公室或紧急护理诊所的费用。

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.
在尝试过视频诊治后，Diana Rae说，当她最近在家严重感冒时，她很乐意支付这35美元诊金。
"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.
“我愿意为这么便利的治疗花两倍的价钱，因为我无需在等待室坐等，也不会接触其他病人的病菌。”

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.
圣方济教会开办了医院、诊所和临终安养院。圣方济教会和Carena公司合作，通过Skype或电话提供虚拟急诊。Carena公司是在美国各地从事这类业务的几家公司之一。但该公司的一位官员称，国家的政策和未能跟上远程医疗的发展。

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.
提供虚拟急诊的员工必须在该公司营业的各个州分别取得营业许可。现在，这意味着Carena公司的医生例如可以治疗华盛顿州或加利福尼亚州的患者，但不包括邻近的俄勒冈州或爱达荷州。