The remote delivery of healthcare services using telecommunications technology. It allows medical professionals to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients at a distance through video calls, digital monitoring, and electronic health records.
From Greek 'tele-' meaning 'far off, distant' combined with Latin 'medicina' meaning 'healing art.' Coined in 1970s as satellite and computer technologies enabled remote medical consultation, revolutionized during COVID-19 pandemic.
NASA pioneered telemedicine in the 1960s to monitor astronauts' health in space, leading to technology that now serves rural communities worldwide. The field exploded from 38 million visits in 2020 to over 85 million annually, fundamentally reshaping how we think about the doctor's office.
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