Telemedicine for WEBSITE

Foreword The International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) has been formed to exchange information and undertake collaborative activities in health technology assessment. At the INAHTA Annual Meeting in 1997, telemedicine was identified by a number of agencies as appropriate to consider through an INAHTA project. With recent advances in communication technologies and the increased affordability of equipment, there has been a rapid worldwide increase in telemedicine projects during the 1990s. This report covers issues associated with the introduction, assessment, and use of this information and communication technology. It is intended to provide a basis for discussion and further work in this area. While the report has been prepared on behalf of INAHTA, the views expressed are those of the authors. Acknowledgements The authors and agencies involved in the preparation of this report are most grateful to the following individuals, who reviewed the document in draft form, for their helpful comments and suggestions: We are also particularly grateful to Professor Kalevi Lauslahti, the former Director of FinOHTA and Dr. Jarmo Reponen, University Hospital of Oulu for their assistance in appraisal of abstracts for the systematic review; to Ms Leigh-Ann Topfer, Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton for undertaking literature searches; and to Ms Wendy Schneider, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research for assistance with initial editing of the document.