Telemedicine in Europe – Current Status and Future Perspectives

Telemedicine ensures remote medical services through technologies that facilitate the interaction between a health professional and patients and offers the possibility of a interdiciplinary consultation between specialists, in order to obtain a diagnosis and treatment plan. It involves secure transmission of medical data and information, through text, sound, images or other forms needed for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients. With the help of telemedicine, people from rural areas, with dificult access to primary care, and those with reduced mobility can benefit from healthcare services. This paper is a review of the latest data available in the literature regarding telemedicine and the future prespectives in this field in Europe.