Technology adoption in health care: International barriers and opportunities to telemedicine

Abstract

Although telemedicine and telehealth are seen as discrete entities by some authors, both The Cochrane Library (2010) and the WHO (2009) acknowledge that definitions overlap. The broad and encompassing definition underpinning the WHO (2009) report states that telemedicine is:
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care 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 health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities