Ohinmaa Arto
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
J Telemed Telecare. 2006;12 Suppl 2:S40-4. doi: 10.1258/135763306778393135.
Reviews of telemedicine literature have shown that about half of the published studies come from the USA. This suggests that there is a large potentially useful stock of research outside the USA that could be used to guide telemedicine decision-making in the USA. In the present study, a request was sent to eight international experts in telemedicine asking about successful telemedicine programmes that have been assessed and could potentially be implemented in the US health-care system. We also conducted a focused review of a few key publications in the field to identify examples of successful telemedicine programmes. The review found that in some specific areas, such as teleradiology, telemental health, telegeriatric applications, e-referrals and discharge letters, and integration of health-care organizations with telemedicine networks, applications successfully implemented in international settings would be suitable for implementation in the USA. If telemedicine programmes from other countries are disseminated to the USA, differences in health-care systems, and technological infrastructure will probably affect their chances of success.
远程医疗文献综述表明，约一半已发表的研究来自美国。这表明在美国以外存在大量可能有用的研究成果，可用于指导美国的远程医疗决策。在本研究中，我们向八位国际远程医疗专家发出询问，了解那些已得到评估且有可能在美国医疗系统中实施的成功远程医疗项目。我们还对该领域的一些关键出版物进行了重点综述，以确定成功远程医疗项目的实例。综述发现，在某些特定领域，如远程放射学、远程心理健康、远程老年医学应用、电子转诊和出院信件，以及医疗保健组织与远程医疗网络的整合方面，在国际环境中成功实施的应用适合在美国实施。如果将其他国家的远程医疗项目推广到美国，医疗保健系统和技术基础设施的差异可能会影响其成功的几率。
