Read about the trials of Benjamin Brewer: “At Brewer’s office the technical end works as promised, but patients don’t really seem interested. They don’t want to pay the (usually unreimbursed) $30 for the online visit with Brewer, and they’s rather just send a regular email, even though it’s vulnerable to snooping.”

Couple of reasons for this. First off, the majority of Medicare-aged patients will be uncomfortable with e-visits. Secondly, $30 is priced too high for an online consult. That’s higher than most co-pays. From my experience at MedHelp, $15 is the sweet spot.

E-visits primarily appeal to patients in their 20’s and 30’s, who grew up on instant messaging. Precisely the market Jay Parkinson is targeting.

Methinks that Dr. Brewer is simply ahead of his time. The e-visit model will take off in about 10-20 years.