Telemedicine

Abstract

Advances in telecommunication and computer industry are turning the concept of a global community into a reality. In the medical industry, telemedicine would be useful in improving health care quality, creating alternatives for transportation of patients and health care professionals. It would allow the exchange of data and radiographs before the transfer of patients between referring and receiving hospitals, increase self-diagnostics and home monitoring, allow real-time video teleconferencing between remotely located users over computer systems, provide rehabilitation and long-term support to the people with disabilities, thus saving lives and reducing medical costs due to early detection of serious pathology. Telemedicine offers new possibilities for multidisciplinary care of patients, allowing direct communications between different, complementary and geographically distant specialists. Thus, it is possible to form committees in small hospitals where all specialties are not represented. New and enhanced telecommunication links between community and academic hospitals show promise for reducing isolation and enhance lifelong learning opportunities for rural health care providers, reduce unnecessary referrals to specialists, and consequent savings to the patients, accompanied by more efficient usage of specialists' time.