Telemedicine and ISDN

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · IEEE Communications Magazine (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/35.180073· OSTI ID:6033555

Akselsen, S; Eidsvik, A K; Folkow, T ^[1]

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1. Norwegian Telecom Research, Tromsoe (Norway)

Telemedicine is not a new concept. Health care professionals have been using the telephone to carry out their services for years. In addition, research efforts have begun utilizing more of the telecommunication repertoire, including speech, text, data, picture, and video communication. Countries with rural areas (e.g., Australia, Canada, and Norway) have been especially active in this field. Telemedicine may be defined in several ways. The use of telecommunications and information technology is central in providing health services - regardless of locations. Thus, a goal for telemedicine has been to eliminate traveling for patients and specialist. The authors have found the following definition of telemedicine useful: The investigation, monitoring, and management of patients and the education of patients and staff using systems which allow ready access to expert advice and patient information, no matter where the patient or relevant information is located. In addition to the aspects covered by this definition they also discuss administrative information in this paper. Telemedicine involves a combination of topics from the fields of telecommunication, medicine, and informatics. In 1988, Norwegian Telecom Research (NTR) started a project on telemedicine in North Norway. This area was chosen partly because of the characteristics of the health service in this region. The region is characterized by sparsely populated communities spread over vast distances, and there is a lack of qualified personnel in certain sectors of the health service. The main objective of the project is to use telemedicine to provide equal healthcare services to each individual in Norway, regardless of geography or economic variation in the population. The project systematically explores the potentials provided by new information and communication technologies in improving health care services.

• OSTI ID: 6033555
• Journal Information: IEEE Communications Magazine (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Communications Magazine (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) Vol. 31:1; ISSN 0163-6804; ISSN ICOMD9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550600 -- Medicine
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990301* -- Information Handling-- Data Handling-- (1992-)
COMMUNICATIONS
COMPUTER NETWORKS
DATA TRANSMISSION
DIGITAL SYSTEMS
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE
SURVEILLANCE
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT