The problem is that the presenter has forgotten to show up, no local docs are in the room to participate, and none of the other remote sites that usually hook up even bother to connect. Judging by these 2 vignettes we may not have come as far as we think in almost 30 years. Make no mistake, I am a fan of telemedicine. It causes me no end of misery to see it continually fail to live up to its promise. This is particularly tragic for rural medicine where the prima facie case would seem to have been made for its usefulness.
Information is good.
It won't keep you awake at night nearly as effectively as the lack of it will. We must define the questions that we want telemedicine to answer and describe the structures required to make it happen. Perhaps if the process is driven by real rural needs rather than theoretical benefits we will advance more quickly. The alternative is endless cycles of pilot projects and promises, and precious little to show for it.