What lessons can be learned from telemedicine programmes in other countries?

Reviews of telemedicine literature have shown that about half of the published studies come from the USA. This suggests that there is a large potentially useful stock of research outside the USA that could be used to guide telemedicine decision-making in the USA. In the present study, a request was sent to eight international experts in telemedicine asking about successful telemedicine programmes that have been assessed and could potentially be implemented in the US health-care system. We also conducted a focused review of a few key publications in the field to identify examples of successful telemedicine programmes. The review found that in some specific areas, such as teleradiology, telemental health, telegeriatric applications, e-referrals and discharge letters, and integration of health-care organizations with telemedicine networks, applications successfully implemented in international settings would be suitable for implementation in the USA. If telemedicine programmes from other countries are disseminated to the USA, differences in health-care systems, and technological infrastructure will probably affect their chances of success.