Article

Telemedicine: Closing the gap in long-distance care for urologists

Peter Bretan, MD, a urologist in private practice in Novato, CA, is the sole urologist for a company specializing in telemedicine-in this case, the use of robots to connect with computers at great distance from the bedside of the patient.

Dr. Bretan works for OffSite Care, Inc. (Sebastopol, CA), one of several companies in the growing field of telemedicine products and services. Others include InTouch Health (Santa Barbara, CA), RoboDynamics (Santa Monica, CA), and Vgo Communications (Nashua, NH). This article focuses on Dr. Bretan's experience with the OffSite Care robot, how he uses it, and the benefits of telemedicine in urologic practice.

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