Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. The use of telemedicine is an important component of providing quality healthcare to underserved populations. Many health centers have implemented successful telemedicine initiatives.
Technologies used in telehealth typically are: videoconferencing, the Internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, and terrestrial and wireless communications.
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White House Report on Recovery Act - Investments in Broadband: Leveraging Federal Dollars to Create Jobs and Connect America 12/17/09 Click Here to Download
Telehealth Resource Centers
California Telemedicine and eHealth Center - www.cteconline.org (California)
Center for Telehealth and E-Health Law - www.telehealthlawcenter.org, www.ctel.org (National)
Northeast Telehealth Resource Center - www.rmcl.org (Washington County Maine, Chittenden County Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island)
Midwest Alliance for Telehealth and Technologies Resources - www.mgh.org/telehealth
Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC) - www.svfoundation.org (Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho)
Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center - www.gptrac.org (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin)
Southwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada)
A Guide to Getting Stated in Telemedicine
AHRQ Report on Using Telehealth to Improve Quality and Safety
Other useful information on Telemedicine:
American Telemedicine Association
View the ATA Guidelines on Telementalhealth Services Open for Public Comment until June 11, 2009
