Economic evaluation of interactive teledermatology compared with conventional care.

Teledermatology offers a means of providing specialist care to underserved patients. The objectives of this study were to compare the costs of interactive teledermatology with conventional care, and to evaluate from a healthcare provider perspective whether interactive teledermatology is economically viable in the northeastern region of the United States. We studied the interactive teledermatology practice at Nantucket Cottage Hospital on Nantucket Island and the ambulatory clinics at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Global health care - bridging the gap.

The World Health Assembly has acknowledged that telehealth could play an important role in providing access to health care for populations at risk worldwide. The Cambodia Teleconsultation Programme or Village Leap Programme connects those in need of health care, with those willing to share their medical expertise. Telemedicine clinics are run every other week at one of two villages in northern Cambodia.

Telemedicine in the future.

Telemedicine can provide a compelling alternative to conventional acute, chronic and preventive care, and can improve clinical outcomes. In the industrialized world, it is likely that telemedicine will continue to move healthcare delivery from the hospital or clinic into the home. In the developing world or in regions with limited infrastructure, telemedicine will mainly be used in applications that link providers based at health centres, referral hospitals and tertiary centres.

Clinical outcomes associated with telemedicine/telehealth.

This paper is a comprehensive review and synthesis of the literature concerning clinical outcomes associated with various telemedicine applications. It starts out with a brief description of the findings reported by similar literature reviews already published. Subsequently, it proposes a conceptual model for assessing clinical outcomes based on Donabedian's formulation of the Medical Care Process.