telemedicine

thumb|Telehealth Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, health administration, and public health.This includes data sharing by way of patient portals and electronic medical records. Telehealth encompasses a broad range of technologies and services used to provide patient care, health education, public health services, and health administration remotely using telecommunications technologies.

Telemedicine is sometimes used as a synonym but is actually a subset of telehealth. The Federation of State Medical Boards defines telemedicine as "the practice of medicine using electronic communication, information technology, or other means between a physician in one location, and a patient in another location, with or without an intervening health care provider." When rural settings, lack of transport, a lack of mobility, conditions due to outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics, decreased funding, or a lack of staff restrict access to care, telemedicine may bridge the gap and can even improve retention in treatment as well as provide distance-learning; meetings, supervision, and presentations between practitioners; online information and health data management and healthcare system integration. EHealth encompasses a wide range of applications, including but not limited to the following: Two clinicians discussing a case via video conference; Robotic surgery performed through remote access; Physical therapy conducted using digital monitoring instruments, live feed, and application combinations; Diagnostic tests transferred between facilities for interpretation by a higher specialist; Home monitoring through continuous transmission of patient health data; Online consultations between patients and practitioners; Video remote interpretation services for clinical visits.