Patients cannot be accurately diagnosed and treated on the phone. A wrong diagnosis can end up in a delay that can be life threatening. The standard of care demands in-person evaluation and treatment. When a physician decides to treat without a good faith exam and is wrong, with a bad outcome, the trial lawyers have a field day in court for a breach in the standard of care for not seeing the patient on a timely basis. Treating patients on the phone also accelerates development of tamiflu resistance by treatment of everyone with an influenza symptom, without a good faith visit, or a confirmatory test. Not to mention the cost of $100 per unnecessary course of Tamiflu. (Roche might support treating everyone without confirming the diagnosis. More $$ for Roche.)

Should physicians spend their days and nights treating patients by phone (which incidentially gets zero compensation), and then they're not available to see their scheduled patients? Everyone should get access to decent healthcare, but it's not going to be free. The Obama administration, and it's medical advisors are not going to take the calls for care I get at all hours of the day and night, nor the liability for not giving patients the care they want and deserve. And it's not phone in medicine that most patients need. It's a doctor willing to take the time to see them, get an accurate diagnosis, and implement treatment that helps. Treating patients with infection in a medical office is part of being a doctor. By the way, other non-infected patients get the same exposure to viruses in the supermarket, theater, airport,school, and workplace. I welcome you to stand in my shoes and take the responsibility and liablity for other people's lives. FYI The Quidel test reimburses twelve to fifteen dollars depending on the patient's insurance coverage, and costs physicians 10 to 13 dollars a test. I'm not retiring on performing this test. I'm using the test appropirately to aid in the diagnosis of influenza like symptoms, and spare the unnecessary use of expenseive antivirals that may be in short supply as the pandemic spreads.