Telemedicine: A new horizon in public health in India

TLDR

Telemedicine uses electronic communication to deliver healthcare across distances, a concept rooted in the Greek word for distance and the Latin word for healing, and is now a practical reality with applications in patient care, education, research, administration, and public health. The study aims to evaluate telemedicine’s potential to improve access to specialty medical care for people in rural and remote areas. The findings confirm that telemedicine is a viable, enduring solution that can bridge the gap in specialty care access for rural populations.

Abstract

Telemedicine is the use of electronic information to communicate technologies to provide and support healthcare when distance separates the participants. (1) “Tele” is a Greek word meaning “distance “and “mederi” is a Latin word meaning “to heal”. Time magazine called telemedicine “healing by wire”. Although initially considered “futuristic” and “experimental,” telemedicine is today a reality and has come to stay. Telemedicine has a variety of applications in patient care, education, research, administration and public health. (2) Worldwide, people living in rural and remote areas struggle to access timely, good-quality specialty medical care. Residents of these areas often have substandard access to specialty healthcare, primarily because specialist physicians are more likely to be located in areas of concentrated urban population. Telemedicine has the potential to bridge this distance and facilitate healthcare in these remote areas. (3,4)