Dr. Jones: The new technology dubbed telemedicine will provide susta

We have a technology that, though I'm just getting the gist of it, allows rural physicians to basically video link their examination to a specialist perhaps in some big city far away. It allows the rural patient to therefore, a supporter of such a process would say, to get better care than would otherwise be possible.

If we read the counter response, we see that Dr. Carabella essentially agrees that this may help INITIALLY but not in the long term. Some reasons are given to support her position, which also says that even URBAN patient care will EVENTUALLY suffer, too.

Dr. Jones: The new technology dubbed “telemedicine” will provide sustained improvement in at least rural patient care since it allows rural physicians to televise medical examinations to specialists who live at great distances—specialists who will thus be able to provide advice the rural patient would otherwise not receive.

Dr. Carabella: Not so. Telemedicine might help rural patient care initially. However, small hospitals will soon realize that they can minimize expenses by replacing physicians with technicians who can use telemedicine to transmit examinations to large medical centers, resulting in fewer patients being able to receive traditional, direct medical examinations. Eventually, it will be the rare individual who ever gets truly personal attention. Hence, rural as well as urban patient care will suffer.

Which one of the following is a point at issue between Dr. Jones and Dr. Carabella?


(A) whether medical specialists in general offer better advice than rural physicians
Both seem to agree with this, so it's not a point of dispute.

(B) whether telemedicine technology will be installed only in rural hospitals and rural medical centers
Nothing disputed on this issue. Not even raised, I daresay.

(C) whether telemedicine is likely to be widely adopted in rural areas in future years
Neither party mentions this.

(D) whether the patients who most need the advice of medical specialists are likely to receive it through telemedicine
Neither party mentions this.

(E) whether the technology of telemedicine will benefit rural patients in the long run
The answer.

D is the Trap answer, E is the right answer. Answering this question correctly will cost : TIME.