Telemedicine can be defined as a delivery of healthcare services through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a situation where the actors are not at the same location. The actors can either be two health care professionals (e.g. teleradiology, telesurgery) or a health care professional and a patient (e.g. telemonitoring of chronically ill such as those with diabetes and heart conditions, telepsychiatry, etc).
Telemedicine works: it saves lives, improves efficiency and benefits the economy.
Literature and case studies of already-implemented or piloted telemedicine applications, including many EC-funded projects report proven benefits at different levels. For example, disease management through telemonitoring of heart conditions reduces mortality rates by an estimated 20%[a]. It has also demonstrated the influence on attitudes and behaviour of patients resulting in better clinical outcomes[b].
[a] EUCOMED
[b] Systematic Review of Home Telemonitoring for Chronic Diseases: The Evidence Base: J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2007;14:269 –277
[c] Telemedicine; Opportunities For Medical and Electronic Providers. BCC Research, 2007
