Telemedicine is the application of telecommunication technology for the purpose of diagnostics, planning and guiding of therapy and education. With the possibility to gain fast access to specialty knowledge, telemedicine makes it possible to deliver health care to patients at distant sites. Due to the rapid progress in the fields of information technology and data networks, telemedicine applications are growing in number.
Besides curative telemedicine, the electronic exchange of medical data and the integration of health information systems between health care providers is gaining importance. Through the improved accessibility of electronic patient record information, considerable risks arise. By participating in telemedical consultations, patients receive accurate diagnosis in a rapid manner and save travel costs and time. Due to recent advances in computing and telecommunications technology, telemedicine will assume a more and more important role in future health care delivery.
The availability of the electronic patient record via the data network and the perspective of semi intelligent software systems automatically preparing the data bears great potential for a boost in treatment quality and efficiency. Systems for unique electronic patient identification and for secure digital signature are a prerequisite, but per se not enough to ensure the protection of data against illegitimate access.
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