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    As Telemedicine Replaces The Physical Exam, What Are Doctors Missing?

    Certain diagnoses are harder to catch without an in-person connection. And beyond that, a doctor reflects on the loss of a ritual that can provide "real comfort and meaning" to physician and patient.
    by Kristen Kendrick Aug 31, 2020 4 minutes
    Virtual medical appointments are more common since the coronavirus pandemic began. But without physical exams, doctors may miss certain diagnoses and miss out on building relationships with patients.

    Despite a foothold in medicine that predates Hippocrates himself, the traditional physical exam might be on the verge of extinction. The coronavirus crisis has driven more routine medical appointments online, accelerating a trend toward telemedicine that has already been underway.

    This worries Dr. Paul Hyman, author of a recently published essay in JAMA Internal Medicine, who reflects on what's lost when physicians see their patients almost exclusively through a screen.

    A primary care physician in Maine, Hyman acknowledges he'd already begun second-guessing routine physicals on healthy patients as insurance requirements pushed doctors away from them.

    But while Hyman is now providing mostly telemedicine, like many doctors during the pandemic, he writes that he has gained a clearer sense of the value of the

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