An Audit of Problems in Implementation of Telemedicine Programme

Telemedicine is an application of Information and Communication Technology in the field of medicine when receiver and provider are separated by distance. It has great potential and can become an important component of healthcare delivery and distant education if it is integrated into existing infrastructure and system. In a country like India where a large section of population (70%) live in villages whereas medical resources including qualified doctors and experts (75%) are concentrated in urban areas. Telemedicine is the tool to bridge this rural urban healthcare divide through the use of telecommunication technologies and computer networking. This has become easier with the availability of broadband transmissions and reduction in the cost of communication and hardware. There are, however, several problems in implementing telemedicine programs for various purposes. Apart from various unavoidable technical problems, it is the lack of awareness and readiness among our doctors to accept and adopt this new technology and realize it's advantages.