Telemedicine: Opportunities and Developments in Member States: Report on the Second Global Survey on eHealth 2009 (Global Observatory for eHealth Series, Volume 2)

Information systems and communication technologies (ICTs) gave us new and innovative wave of communication life such as living in cyber space, instant messaging, and communications with whom anyone in anywhere.These are changing not only life-style, but also mode of business in every industry.Health care service industry is resource-intensive, processoriented, and doing business traditionally by method of confrontation between medical professionals and patients.ICTs have great potential to address some of the challenges faced by both developed and developing countries in providing accessible, cost-effective, high-quality health care services.Telemedicine uses ICTs to overcome geographical barriers, and increase access to health care services.These are particularly beneficial for rural and underserved communities in developing countries -groups that traditionally suffered from lack of access to health care.In light of this potential, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) to review the benefits that ICTs can bring to health care and patients' wellbeing.The Observatory is charged with determining the status of eHealth solutions, including telemedicine, at the national, regional, and global levels, and providing WHO's Member States with reliable information and guidance on best practices, policies, and standards in eHealth.In 2005, following the formation of WHO's eHealth strategy, the Observatory conducted a global eHealth survey to obtain general information about the state of eHealth among