Telemedicine and E-health in Nepal

Information systems support to reduce the disparity in health care that exist in urban and rural areas. It improves the health care services and coordination at different levels. Health information systems provide the tools to capture, store, process and communicate health care information . Telemedicine and e-health is growing both in developed as well as in developing countries and has remained as an integral part of the health care delivery system. It includes different health activities and medical services that take place at a distance. In the developing countries, it supports to improve the accessibility, quality and efficiency of the healthcare services and also reduces the cost of service. 3 It also supports to improve the administrative as well as technical aspect of healthcare system. Similarly, it also supports to connect the healthcare facilities with the healthcare professionals and reduce the geographical and physical barriers . The World Health Organization (WHO) has mentioned tele-medicine and e-health as a possible information system that can improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care services.