Should telemedicine in eye care be funded in Australia?

Kumar, Sajeesh K R; Kanagasingam, Yogesan; Constable, Ian J

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2004.tb06468.x

Topics

To the Editor: Telemedicine in eye care (teleophthalmology) is one of the established technologies in medicine, providing the means for undertaking sophisticated eye care and for maintaining contact with patients in rural and remote areas.1

Correspondence:

1. Yogesan K, Constable IJ, Morgan B, Soebadi DY. International transmission of tele-ophthalmology images. J Telemed Telecare 2000; 5: 41-44.
2. Van Gool K, Haas MR, Viney R. From flying doctor to virtual doctor: an economic perspective on Australia’s telemedicine experience. J Telemed Telecare 2002; 8: 249-254.
3. Buckley D, Lower T. Factors influencing the utilisation of health services by rural men. Aust Health Rev 2002; 25(2): 11-15.
4. Mitchell J. Increasing the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine by embracing e-health. J Telemed Telecare 2000; 6(Suppl 1): S16-S19.
5. Klonoff DC. Diabetes and telemedicine: is the technology sound, effective, cost-effective and practical? Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 1626-1628.
6. Kumar SKR, Kanagasingam Y, Chaves F, et al. Telemedicine in eye care: cost-benefit analysis and comparison of alternative scenarios. Arch Ophthalmol 2004. In press.

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