BALTIMORE-Physicians are getting training here in how to not practice medicine.
It’s the credo at America’s Doctor Online, a new 24-hour service that lets consumers ask physicians questions via AOL. So far 42 physicians, mostly boarded, who don’t identify themselves, are getting $60 an hour to be elusive at terminals here four to 40 hours a week.
The trick, says internist Scott Rifkin, the CEO of ADOL, is to provide authoritative medical information without prescribing or diagnosing. It takes about 20 hours of practice to get the knack of it, he says.
But referring is just fine. The service’s revenue is slated to come primarily from deals with local hospitals’ referral services. -Mark Bloom
