Will applications on smartphones allow a generalization of telemedicine?

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine is one of the healthcare sectors that has developed the most in recent years. Currently, telemedicine is mostly used for patients who have difficulty attending medical consultations because of where they live (teleconsultation) or for specialist referrals when no specialist of a given discipline is locally available (telexpertise). However, the use of specific equipment (with dedicated cameras, screens, and computers) and the need for institutional infrastructure made the deployment and use of these systems expensive and rigid. Although many telemedicine systems have been tested, most have not generally gone beyond local projects. Our hypothesis is that the use of smartphones will allow health care providers to overcome some of the limitations that we have exposed, thus allowing the generalization of telemedicine.

Main body: This paper addresses the problem of telemedicine applications, the market of which is growing fast. Their development may completely transform the organization of healthcare systems, change the way patients are managed and revolutionize prevention. This new organization should facilitate the lives of both patients and doctors. In this paper, we examine why telemedicine has failed for years to take its rightful place in many European healthcare systems although there was a real need. By developing the example of France, this article analyses the reasons most commonly put forth: the administrative and legal difficulties, and the lack of funding. We argue that the real reason telemedicine struggled to find its place was because the technology was not close enough to the patient.

Conclusion: Finally, we explain how the development of smartphones and their current ubiquitousness should allow the generalization of telemedicine in France and on a global scale.

Keywords: Cost effectiveness; Smartphones; Telemedicine.