The potential for telemedicine to improve coronary heart disease services

The potential of telemedicine to improve services for patients suffering fr om coronary heart disease (CHD) was explored. Key issues surrounding the de livery of CHID services in London were identified, such as a shortage of sk illed staff, the need for appropriate patient information and problems with waiting times, particularly for diagnostic test results. Telemedicine has the potential to improve service delivery in each of these areas. It is unl ikely that some of the targets for CHID service delivery set out by the Dep artment of Health's National Service Frameworks can be met without the use of telemedicine.