Implementing telemedicine technology: lessons from India.

Information and communications technologies have universally helped to bridge the digital divide. As an application of ICT, telemedicine is an efficient pathway for enabling health care delivery. Developing countries, too, have started reaping the benefits of this evolutionary technology, but realisation of such dreams has not been swift. The implementation of a pilot scheme in telemedicine in India has been confounded with challenges right from the very start. One of the prime lessons to be learnt from the implementation of a pilot project in a developing country is to keep the objectives of the project in small modules and to keep the deliverables within sight. An account of some of the challenges faced while developing telemedicine technology in India serves as a useful example for upcoming telemedicine programmes in Third World countries.