Dr. Loren Olson,who lives, practices psychiatry and raises cattle in the country outside Des Moines, said Skype Video can help overcome the shortage of psychiatrists in rural areas such as those he practices in Iowa and around the country.

Instead of spending a lot of "windshield time" driving for hours to rural outposts, he told me in the video below that Skype can help psychiatrists maximize their time to see more patients.

Olson, who plans to dedicate space in his office to a Skype "studio," said there is adequate bandwidth for patients in the country to use Skype.
He told a couple stories about seeing patients with Skype.

One patient was so engaged that the 60-mile distance went unnoticed. In fact, said Olso, "He asked me to get him a glass of water."

Skype Video may be the next best thing to being there--and in fact in at least once case may be even better.

Olson said: "I asked a schizophrenic how he felt about being interviewed over a (webcam) rather than in person and he said, 'I think I prefer it this way.'"

A major TV show is looking to feature doctors who use Skype in their practices.

If you're a doc with a Skype Video story, please share it in an e-mail. Send it to skype@kaplowpr.com.