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Telehealth is a sub-concept of Telemedicine and refers to ‘the use of telecommunication
technologies to make health and related services more accessible to health
care consumers and providers in rural, or otherwise areas with
underprivileged health-care resources ’.
More concisely, Telehealth services aim at maintaining the ‘wellness’ of society or improving
the general health of society. The common element in both definitions is
the use of telecommunications. Telehealth can be distinguished from
telemedicine in the sense that the former is the provision of a service to
those who are at a distance from the service provider, but who are not
necessarily ill or wounded, who are already well and want to stay that way
by following healthy practices of diet, nutrition, exercise
etc, and by taking steps to avoid illness and disease, for example, in
regard to sanitation. Telemedicine can be regarded as an example of
the use of 'Telematics for health'. 'Telematics for health', however, has a
broader scope since it also includes informatics or information technology
and aims at improving the efficiency of health-care, even within a single
hospital or health administration.
Telemedicine and
World Wide Web
With the
intensification of computer literacy, more and more people are interacting
with each other, by using a common shared medium in search of information and
resources. Internet access serves as the prime approach to information-sharing across two different ends of the world
with the use of computer terminals. The Web can serve as an effective and economic medium for the application of
telemedicinal activities. Most of the Medical Universities and Colleges
can link up databases and critical information on a secure server, which
can be accessed by health professionals world wide for analytical
consultation. The use of Web also reduces the time
involved in transfer of information (records of patients or reports of routine health
analysis) either from one department in the hospital to another or between
two doctors. Similar kinds of facilities are in
use by several medical authorities in the west.
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Telemedicine can deliver health-care services, where distance may be
the critical factor. The health care professionals by using
information and communication technologies, can now access or exchange
information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and
injuries. The new age concept also provides for
the continuing education among health care providers as well as allows for research and evaluation, all in the interests of advancing the health
of individuals and their communities.
