In rural and sparsely populated countries, telemedicine can be a vital and life-saving link to health care, and in those regions where demands on hospitals are ever increasing, it can provide a safe and comfortable alternative to hospital-based therapy. The second edition of this introductory guide to telemedicine and telecare services is invaluable to new practitioners in this growing field of medicine. The book describes the benefits of telemedicine and highlights the potential problems. The authors provide numerous examples of how telemedicine is used in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia.

Richard Wootton
Centre for Online Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
John Craig
Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast
Victor Patterson
Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast; Centre for Online Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

List of contributors
Foreword to the first edition
Preface to the first edition
Preface to the second edition
SECTION ONE: BACKGROUND
1. Introduction to the practice of telemedicine
2. Telemedicine systems and communication
SECTION TWO: TELEMEDICINE APPLICATIONS
3. Prerecorded telemedicine
4. Realtime telemedicine
5. Tele-education
SECTION THREE: HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT TELEMEDICINE
6. Defining the needs of a telemedicine service
7. Successfully developing a telemedicine system
8. Evaluating telemedicine systems and services
9. How to do a telemedicine consultation
SECTION FOUR: OTHER ASPECTS OF TELEMEDICINE
10. Benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine
11. Legal and ethical aspects of telemedicine
12. Sources of information on telemedicine
13. Telemedicine in the future
14. Conclusion
Index