Clinical call centres: does low-bandwidth video have a place?

Low-bandwidth video has a place in health service delivery. Videoconferenci ng systems commonly used in telehealth have a high capital cost, take days or weeks to install at specific locations, and have high communications cha rges. A range of circumstances can be envisaged where video may be of benef it but would not justify the cost of large systems. There are projects in c ommunity nursing, home dialysis and post-acute respiratory care where vario us low-bandwidth video technologies have been added as a supplement to the humble telephone call. It can be expected that at least some of these proje cts will be able to demonstrate tangible improvements in health outcomes, s uch as decreased readmission rates, reduced acute episodes of a chronic ill ness and improved health status from the additional social support.