PRESENTATION

Telemedicine, as part of e-Health, is the interactive transmission of clinical data, signals and biomedical images, in order to enable patients, living in remote locations, to receive the best possible treatments. The World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on 1997 adopted this definition: “ Telemedicine is the delivery of health-care services, where distance is a critical factor, by health-care professionals using information and communication technologies far the exchange of valid information far diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, and far the continuing education of health- care providers as well as research and evaluation, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.” Telemedicine can be distinguished from telehealth, in the sense that this last is the provision of health administrative services (booking medical visits, health ticket payment, receiving lab test results, etc.) to users who are at a distance and are not necessarily ill or wounded. The common element in these different aspects is the use of telecommunications to deliver health-care services to persons wherever they are located (telemedicine and telehealth can be considered as parts of e-health). In general, e-Health regards electronic applications to the whole field of health sector, by means of intelligent and connected data systems in different activities (medical record design, clinical/ epidemiological data base management, hospital/health information systems architecture, teleconsulting/telediagnosis process, etc.) So, e-Health includes medical information systems, public health surveillance, e-learning for health professionals, telemedicine and telehomecare in particular on the following disabled and elderly people. Today the ageing of the population (in particular in the developed countries) poses significant economic, social and health-care challenges. The elder age is characterized by high incidence of chronic multi-pathologies and disabilities, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, chronic respiratory failure, asthma and neurological disease as Alzheimer or Parkinson. However, such diseases can be managed away from the hospital at home. Home care is becoming an increasingly important part of the healthcare services, allowing the so called “ Continuity of care” .