Planning telemedicine services

Summary form only given. Telemedicine is an emerging industry with the potential to revolutionize the delivery of care to the benefit of healthcare consumers, providers, and payers. The application of electronically connected parties in provision of medical care and training has begun already to show exciting possibilities. Future expansion of telehealth systems depends on proper planning. Telemedical services can be deployed in a variety of platforms. The deployment of any one or a combination of platforms is dependent on conditions as: clinical needs, level of staff training, legal and cultural constrains, telecommunications infrastructure, regional economics, and the stage of technological integration. Some applications are better suitable than others to support the needs of distant health-care providers. Telemedicine systems must be tailored to the needs of the participating parties. With proper planning and the anticipated advances in computing power, direct medical digital imaging and telecommunications will continue to increase the cost-effectiveness and expand the scope of telemedicine services. Two modalities of practice are emerging: the real-time interactive mode and the Store-and-Forward mode. However penalties such as financial, legislative, and regulatory ones need to be removed in order to permit everyone in need to reach their goal by finding the ramp and get on the telemedicine highway.