Telemedicine framework and applications in dermatology and ophthalmology

Medicine has to balance between the advantages and costs of new technology. As the significance of technical aids has increased. medicine has become m ore tightly bound to technology. Telemedicine is one of the fastest develop ing fields. as its development is connected to the development of telecommu nication and information technology. Technology sets the ultimate restricti ons to telemedicine, However, most challenges are nontechnical. Fast develo pment makes it difficult to perform generalizable studies on the field. and the lack of practical, applicable standardization hinders telemedical syst em design. The cost of technology is quickly falling compared with the cost of human labour. Because of these factors the efficient use of telemedicin e requires strategic decisions at the level of the organization as well as more research concerning the effects of telemedicine on medical practice, T his article describes the telemedical frame of reference by using dermatolo gy and ophthalmology as examples.