What is Telemedicine?

IT refers to the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients using modern telecommunication tools such as the Internet, video conferencing, telephone, fax, etc. Telemedicine enables the sharing of medical information about a patient electronically. The process of information sharing can happen in real time or the data can be forwarded and analysed at a later time.

Telemedicine has proved to be a boon for patients in smaller towns and remote villages where up-to-date medical facilities may not be readily available. The doctors from rural hospitals can electronically share the patient's data like pathological, X-ray and ECG reports and clinical findings with their counterparts from sophisticated urban hospitals and arrive at a proper diagnosis and line of treatment.

In advanced countries, telemedicine has been used effectively to handle life-threatening emergencies. Doctors sitting thousands of kilometres away have moved the arms and fingers of a surgical robot to carry out surgeries!

Telemedicine has already gained wide acceptance in India. Many major hospitals offer telemedicine services to its patients in remote locations.