Telemedicine: an application in search of users.

Telemedicine involves the use of telecommunication technologies as a medium for the provision of medical information and services to consumers at sites that are at a distance from the provider. The concept encompasses everything from the telephone system to high-speed, wide-bandwidth transmission with use of fiberoptics, satellites, or a combination of terrestrial and satellite-communication technologies. The peripheral software could be as simple as a typewriter used to type a letter requesting an opinion or as complex as high-capacity parallel processing computers and imaging devices. Although the definition includes telephone, facsimile, and distance learning, the term "Telemedicine" is currently used as a generic label for remote consultation and diagnosis. Telemedicine is not a medical subspecialty but a facilitator of all medical and surgical specialties.