Reimbursing Physicians for Telehealth Practice: Issues and Policy Options

Telehea l th , b ro adly defined, is the use of telecommunications and information technologies to overcome geographic distances between health care practitioners or between practitioners and patients for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, consultation, education and health information transfer. The vastness of Canada has made the delivery of health services to its widely dispersed population difficult at the best of times. The adoption of innovative approaches or technologies is often a necessity. The growing interest in telehealth in Canada is a case in point. Canada was one of the first countries in the world to adopt telehealth.