ABSTRACT
The last decade has witnessed a rapid increase in telemedicine-related research and operational telemedicine programmes (see Chapter 1). 1 Yet, despite the growing interest in the field, it is difficult to ascertain the level of telemedicine activity that exists. This is because it is not easy to define what is, and what is not, telemedicine. In addition, numerous individuals and organizations practise telemedicine but would not consider themselves to have a dedicated telemedicine programme, and are not particularly enthusiastic about publicizing their efforts. The growing popularity of PC-based desktop videoconferencing for telemedicine will undoubtedly further this trend, making it even more difficult to define with any certainty the volume of telemedicine that is being done. Furthermore, telemedicine is teeming with politicians and self-appointed ‘experts’, speaking with apparent authority and offering volumes of advice, some of which is unfortunately based on extremely limited telemedicine experience, but which suggests that there may be more telemedicine activity than is actually the case.
