Telemedicine refers to modern, digital care concepts in which medical services are provided over spatial distances. For this purpose, doctors and patients use modern information and communication technologies such as apps and video technologies. These technologies can be used for diagnostics, therapy and rehabilitation.
The best-known telemedical scenario is video consultations, so that the doctor can form an initial impression of the patient’s state of health. However, telemedicine has many more areas of application. For example, cardiologists can use telemedicine to examine heart tones by means of an implanted defibrillator. Doctors can also exchange information and discuss findings with each other via teleconsultation. Meanwhile, it is also possible for operations to be performed over spatial distances thanks to medical robots. In the field of mHealth, apps can help to transmit data fed into the app to the doctor, enabling him to monitor the patient’s condition. There are also apps that make consultations with physiotherapists possible, who supervise the patient’s exercises remotely.
Telemedicine is thus a collective term for a variety of possibilities for offering and receiving medical treatment by means of modern communication technology.