Telemedicine may help change the face of medical care in eastern Canada.

Pilot projects in eastern Canada that use personal computers and telephone lines to link patients and rural physicians with specialists in urban centres indicate that telemedicine may be a cost-effective adjunct to clinical medicine. Dermatology, radiology, cardiology and oncology are among the areas that have been tested in Nova Scotia. Although physicians say telemedicine may have many useful applications, such as providing efficient continuing medical education for doctors in remote communities, they say it must respect traditional referral patterns.