On a video conference, the distant clinician receives a great deal of visual information about the patient and their surroundings. It is also easier for several people to be involved at each site during a video conference.
TELEMEDICINE VIDEOCONFERENCING INCLUDES:
- remote consultations – for example, between a rural patient or a patient in a rest home and a specialist in an urban hospital.
- triage – for example, a GP consulting with a hospital on whether a patient should be admitted.
- multidisciplinary meetings, for example, several health professionals situated in various locations using video conferencing to discuss a treatment plan for a shared patient.
- remote expert peer support, for example, a doctor in a rural hospital being supervised by a doctor in a larger regional hospital. Or an emergency department in a remote hospital connecting with the emergency department of a larger hospital to discuss care for a patient.
- education, for example, online training workshops delivered between sites using video conferencing.