how much are you earning?

[Poppasmurf]

Just curious .. anyone actually earning any money from the internet?

[TexasHusker]

Just curious .. anyone actually earning any money from the internet?

Depends on what you call the internet.

For my vacation rental management company, almost all of our reservations are through the internet, which adds up to over $1 million a year. Of course that isn't my earnings (I wish!)

[disneysteve]

Depends on what you call the internet.

That's a really interesting point. So much of everything we do today is somehow tied into the internet. Even folks with traditional jobs for bricks and mortar companies may telecommute online. I'm a physician but our electronic health records and nearly all of our prescribing happens online.

As far as straight online business, I make about $10,000/year doing professional surveys and a few hundred more selling stuff on ebay/craigslist/half.com.

[Singuy]

About 80 dollars a year via youtube..lol

Posted those videos 3 years ago due to a hobby of mine..they are still making money very slowly.

[97guns]

About 80 dollars a year via youtube..lol

Posted those videos 3 years ago due to a hobby of mine..they are still making money very slowly.

That's cool, any pointers how to get an income from YouTube? I've posted 2 videos

[TexasHusker]

That's a really interesting point. So much of everything we do today is somehow tied into the internet. Even folks with traditional jobs for bricks and mortar companies may telecommute online. I'm a physician but our electronic health records and nearly all of our prescribing happens online.

As far as straight online business, I make about $10,000/year doing professional surveys and a few hundred more selling stuff on ebay/craigslist/half.com.

Online physician consults are getting to be big deal too.

[disneysteve]

Online physician consults are getting to be big deal too.

True. I signed up with one of the big companies in this sector (HealthTap) but I never actually did any work for them. As a doctor, I have to say the whole concept is rather uncomfortable. Diagnosing and treating patients purely by video chat kind of goes against everything we are taught in medical school. I'm not sure how well it works in real life.

[~bs]

totally unfamiliar in that area, but I'd be very uncomfortable doing it. My chief worry would be misdiagnosing someone, then getting slapped with a malpractice suit when they claim that somehow I should have known their fatigue (or whatever) was due to cancer, and not a common cold. or their "cold" was actually bronchitis. Or their chest hurts because they have an irregular heart beat. lame examples I know. At least if you see them in person, you have a greater chance of diagnosing them correctly or identifying if there's an issue where they need to go in for more testing.

[Singuy]

That's cool, any pointers how to get an income from YouTube? I've posted 2 videos

You have to be consistent in your postings and make high quality content. Good lighting, good production value, and stick to an interesting topic you are passionate about.

It's a lot of hard work to be honest (talking in front of a camera is easy, but the editing just kills me..spending 10+ hours on a video).

Also if you make good adult related content(say finance vs reviewing fisher price toys), you earn more per ad due to your audience being high value ad targets.

[rennigade]

Diagnosing and treating patients purely by video chat kind of goes against everything we are taught in medical school. I'm not sure how well it works in real life.

I dont think it would be such a stretch to eventually see a doctor through video chat. Why would that be any different than if someone was in the room?

I dont know if any doctor would diagnose a patient without doing some sort of test. Listening to their heart/breathing isnt anything special...that could be done remote. Temperature, viewing throat, ears, eyes...blood work, blood pressure..all remote. X rays, whatever other tests, etc etc.

Im trying to think of my last few visits which are few and far between...they could have easily had the physician assistant or nurse (whatever you call them) be in the room by themselves. If a doctor was on a video screen he could have easily walked that person through what I was there for.

More than likely though in the future we'll see something where a patient sits or lays in a chair that has all kinds of gadgets attached to it that can check vitals and every other thing imaginable...or some sort of scanning device that can give all that info in a few seconds.

[disneysteve]

I dont think it would be such a stretch to eventually see a doctor through video chat. Why would that be any different than if someone was in the room?

The doctor in the room can do a physical exam.
The doctor on the video chat can't.

I dont know if any doctor would diagnose a patient without doing some sort of test.

That's exactly how telemedicine is working, though. You call in or video chat, talk to the doctor, he/she then tells you what to do and, if appropriate, prescribes medication.

More than likely though in the future we'll see something where a patient sits or lays in a chair that has all kinds of gadgets attached to it that can check vitals and every other thing imaginable...or some sort of scanning device that can give all that info in a few seconds.

There is actually a system that already does this to an extent. There is a free-standing booth, like in a pharmacy, where you step in and do the video chat. If the doctor wants to see in your ear, a panel opens and an otoscope is there. You hold it in your own ear and the doctor can see the image. It doesn't replace a normal physical exam but at least it's better than nothing.

Of course, doctors have been practicing telemedicine for decades. I do it every day in my office when a patient calls in with symptoms and I call in treatment for them. No exam occurs. The difference in those cases is that I know the patients, I know their history, what meds they're on, and they're personalities. Are they frequent complainers, calling with every sniffle and ache? Or are they really stoic and the fact that they're calling with this complaint raises a red flag that something potentially serious is going on? And if I'm just not sure, I can tell them to come over for me to see them in person. The doctor on the other end of the video chat can't do that. I mean she can say, "Go see your doctor" but I'm sure a lot of people who gravitate toward these services are folks who don't have established relationships with a family doctor.

After 24 years in practice, I just know how important it is to actually see and observe and examine and speak to the patient face to face. You can pick up on a lot of clues that wouldn't come across in a Skype conversation. And sometimes key info comes from someone else in the exam room - a parent or spouse or child of the patient. If I only spoke to and saw the patient, I'd miss all of that.

It's an interesting development. I'm curious to see how it progresses.

[Poppasmurf]

Telemedicine eh, got to wonder how long it will be before you start seeing ads popping up?
something like ... ears plugged, buy your cotton swabs here!

[~bs]

The doctor in the room can do a physical exam.
The doctor on the video chat can't.


That's exactly how telemedicine is working, though. You call in or video chat, talk to the doctor, he/she then tells you what to do and, if appropriate, prescribes medication.


There is actually a system that already does this to an extent. There is a free-standing booth, like in a pharmacy, where you step in and do the video chat. If the doctor wants to see in your ear, a panel opens and an otoscope is there. You hold it in your own ear and the doctor can see the image. It doesn't replace a normal physical exam but at least it's better than nothing.

Of course, doctors have been practicing telemedicine for decades. I do it every day in my office when a patient calls in with symptoms and I call in treatment for them. No exam occurs. The difference in those cases is that I know the patients, I know their history, what meds they're on, and they're personalities. Are they frequent complainers, calling with every sniffle and ache? Or are they really stoic and the fact that they're calling with this complaint raises a red flag that something potentially serious is going on? And if I'm just not sure, I can tell them to come over for me to see them in person. The doctor on the other end of the video chat can't do that. I mean she can say, "Go see your doctor" but I'm sure a lot of people who gravitate toward these services are folks who don't have established relationships with a family doctor.

After 24 years in practice, I just know how important it is to actually see and observe and examine and speak to the patient face to face. You can pick up on a lot of clues that wouldn't come across in a Skype conversation. And sometimes key info comes from someone else in the exam room - a parent or spouse or child of the patient. If I only spoke to and saw the patient, I'd miss all of that.

It's an interesting development. I'm curious to see how it progresses.

with the skyrocketing cost of medical insurance and the pressure to lower the costs, I'm guessing it may expand by necessity, rather than choice.

And regarding telemedicine, once you're using the internet, the traditional limits such as location go out the window. You open the door to these services being outsourced to india and other 3rd world countries, much like other professional industries. They get "certified" to practice by US standards, but willing to accept pay far less than US professionals. Only when your injury or condition is deemed bad enough are you referred to a real family practitioner here in the US.

Once the internet is involved, you can pretty much attempt to outsource anything. I knew fast food locations that outsourced their drivethru function to india and the Philippines. They eventually switched back to at-location drivethru cashiers because the service was pretty bad, and complaints probably went through the roof. Pretty much I would have to say or do anything to get past the drive thru speaker, then place the "real" order at the payment window.

[disneysteve]

And regarding telemedicine, once you're using the internet, the traditional limits such as location go out the window. You open the door to these services being outsourced to india and other 3rd world countries, much like other professional industries.

Well that can only happen if every state changes their laws. I suppose that could happen but I think it's somewhat unlikely. As the law stands now, you must be licensed in the state to provide medical services there. Even if I started doing telemedicine, I could only do it for patients in my state.

[Gailete]

I dont think it would be such a stretch to eventually see a doctor through video chat. Why would that be any different than if someone was in the room?

I dont know if any doctor would diagnose a patient without doing some sort of test. Listening to their heart/breathing isnt anything special...that could be done remote. Temperature, viewing throat, ears, eyes...blood work, blood pressure..all remote. X rays, whatever other tests, etc etc.

Im trying to think of my last few visits which are few and far between...they could have easily had the physician assistant or nurse (whatever you call them) be in the room by themselves. If a doctor was on a video screen he could have easily walked that person through what I was there for.

More than likely though in the future we'll see something where a patient sits or lays in a chair that has all kinds of gadgets attached to it that can check vitals and every other thing imaginable...or some sort of scanning device that can give all that info in a few seconds.

You make medicine sound so simple that anyone with two legs could do it. When working I was an RN. I remember many times after doing my mini 'physicals' on my patients at the beginning of the shift and coming back to chart what I found. I would also see what other nurses and the docs had charted. I found it interesting that many times I was charting things like heart murmurs, the bruits & thrills on a dialysis site, etc. Did the nurses not notice? Did they not check? Did they not care? I don't really know. I was glad to see that when I heard a murmur the doc did as well! So your saying anybody can do it, you'd better be hoping you got a nurse that graduated near the top of the class instead of the bottom. I can't imagine doing all those things needed by remote or in a booth. So many things can be missed by not paying attention to the right things. I give you the prime example of the lady we had that people decided she had scabies and were trying to treat her for that. I came in looked around her room and discovered the woman was into snuff and had it all over herself and her bed. I don't suppose you would see that over video.