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" "telehealth" which is broadly defined as the use of communications technologies to provide and support health care at a distance." This is the definition of telehealth. Telehealth is the use of technologies to provide and support health care at a distance.

This article is talking about how technology has had a great impact on the medical field. Some examples are painless needles, which scientists are working on right now. Needles always scare children, so the painless needle is going to make it where they will not be afraid anymore. Another thing is cloning. This technology can be used for many things such as burn victims, cancer patients, the lost of a limb, and even brain damage. Technology has already had a tremendous impact on the medical field and they are still making it even better.

"The term telemedicine encompasses a wide range of telecommunications and information technologies and many clinical applications, although interactive video may be the most common medium.The first telemedicine programs were established almost 40 years ago, but the technology has grown considerably in the past decade. Despite the expansion of telemedicine, the volume of patients receiving services that use the technology remains relatively low (about 21 000 in 1996). In part, this reflects the lack of a consistent coverage and payment policy and concerns about licensure, liability, and other issues. A considerable amount of federal funding has supported telemedicine in recent years, and legislators and federal, regional, and state policymakers are struggling with several crucial policy matters. Research on the effectiveness of telemedicine is somewhat limited, although the work that has been done thus far supports the hypothesis that, in general, the technology is medically effective. The cost-effectiveness of specific telemedicine applications has not yet been rigorously demonstrated. " This talks about what telemedicine started out as and what it is going to become.

Ivy - can you put this into your own words please?

"34% of users report their organization's telemedicine program has been in existence between 1 and 2 years, and almost 20% report their program has been in existence for 5 years or longer. Supporting "Continuing Medical Education" is the most common way in which telemedicine is used, followed closely by "clinical consultations". "Text documents" are the most frequently transmitted type of medical information transmitted between locations, while "real-time motion video" is transmitted least frequently. A desire to "deliver quality care to rural/under-served areas" was cited by users as the most important reason their organizations decided to implement a telemedicine, but non-users claim the "availability of affordable technology" would be their primary motivation. "Access to medical databases" was considered the most valuable clinical telemedicine application cited by users. 87% of those using telemedicine report that their organization provides them with access to the Internet. Slightly more than a third of those using telemedicine report that their organization "occasionally" uses telemedicine to assess a patient at a remote location, while almost half "occasionally" use an interactive technology to consult with a remote caregiver. "Lack of funding" was by both users and non-users as the greatest impediment to the growth of telemedicine. Budgets for the majority of new telemedicine programs (less than one year old) appear to have increased by 50% or more from 1997 to 1998. However, budgets for the majority of older telemedicine programs (5 years or more), have remained the same for the majority of the respondents. Non-users indicated that having access to medical databases and the ability to transmit medical images would be the two most valuable telemedicine capabilities. " This talks about the findings of telemedicine that researchers have discovered.

computers and medicine