The challenges of telemedicine are major: reduction in the inequality of access to care, diagnosis carried out remotely by the best specialists responding to emergencies ... A look at this profound transformation of medical practices.
Digital technology induces usual revolutions throughout society. If it upsets the positions of the actors of commerce, industry, tourism, medicine is also deeply impacted. All developed countries have been led to take into account the development of telemedicine in their provision of care. In France, it was organized by article 78 of the Hospital, Patients, Health and Territories Act of July 21, 2009, and many states have also adopted adapted legislation.
The challenges of telemedicine in the medical field are major:
- Reduction of the inequality of access to care, particularly for people in isolated territories,
- Remote diagnosis by the best specialists in the case of poly-pathologies or particularly complex pathologies,
- Realization of acts responding to emergencies, etc.
A survey carried out by the Directorate-General for the provision of care in France (DGOS) showed that in 2013, 331 telemedicine devices were registered on the national territory, a very large increase (almost 50% compared with 2012 ). This evolution is characteristic of a dynamic observed at the international level, as the contributions of telemedicine are numerous.
Telemedicine provides an essential response to major challenges:
- Imbalance of the location of medical and hospital infrastructures,
- Need to make more widely available equipment more and more efficient and costly,
- Organizational constraints of the teams in charge of care.
It contributes to ensuring continuity and quality of care at controlled costs for health systems.