TELEMEDICINE: Definitions and Concepts

Telemedicine: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Telemedicine as the delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation and for the continuing education of healthcare providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.

Telehealth: Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long distance clinical healthcare, patient and professional health-related education and training, public health and health administration.

Telemedicine Consultation Centre (TCC): Telemedicine Consulting Centre is the site where the patient is present. In a Telemedicine Consulting Centre, equipment for scanning/converting, transformation and communicating the patient s medical information can be available.

Telemedicine Specialty Centre (TSC): Telemedicine Specialty Centre is a site, where the specialist is present. He can interact with the patient present in the remote site and view his reports and monitor his progress.

Telemedicine System: The Telemedicine system consists of an interface between hardware, software and a communication channel to eventually bridge two geographical locations to exchange information and enable teleconsultancy between two locations. The hardware consists of a computer, printer, scanner, videoconferencing equipment etc. The software enables the acquisition of patient information (images, reports etc.). The communication channel enables the connectivity whereby two locations can connect to each other.

Reference:
“Telemedicine: A New Horizon in Public Health in India”, Aparajita Dasgupta, Soumya Deb, Indian Journal of Community Medicine Vol. 33, No. 1, January 2008