Telemedicine

Overview

Telemedicine is described as a medical practitioner using technology (computers, video, phone, message) to diagnose and treat patients at a remote place.

Telemedicine is a critical and rapidly expanding component of healthcare delivery in the United States. In the United States, there are now roughly 200 telemedicine networks with 3,500 service locations. In 2011, the Veterans Health Administration used telemedicine to provide over 300,000 remote consultations. More than half of all hospitals in the United States now employ some sort of telemedicine.

Telemedicine uses telecommunications technology to allow health care providers to examine, diagnose, and treat patients from a distance. In the previous decade, the method has seen a dramatic transformation, and it is now an increasingly significant component of the American healthcare system.