Telemedicine may bridge gap

California covers this type of examination, but the compensation leaves a lot to be desired, as well as the training process for physicians to become familiar with using a computer. Just for comparison sake, in the UK, telemedicine is a priority with various programs to reach out via cell phones and other wireless devices to connect patients. It is not a cure all by any means, but when a physician is not accessible locally and in rural locations, it can certainly be a big help. BD

In a Madera examining room, a doctor takes a digital picture of a sesame-seed-sized lump on Julianna Moore's left eyelid and sends it out over the Web. The picture pops up on a dermatologist's computer screen 130 miles away, and in minutes, Moore gets a diagnosis that she might otherwise not have received for months, if ever. Moore had tried to get a face-to-face appointment with a specialist, but like thousands of other patients without private health insurance, she found that next to impossible.

Telemedicine doesn't create more specialists," said Tom Nesbitt, director of the Center for Health and Technology at UC Davis. "What it can do is redistribute the knowledge of specialists over a larger geographic area."