From there, the availability of Web browsers moved the technology from the academic world to mainstream. Wireless access is one important distinctive feature, but more generally, there is a merging of computer, communications, and information technologies that will support even more profound capabilities. Public funding is making up a small portion of the total investment, which has been stimulated in part by restructuring of the telecommunications industry. Further price decreases in hardware and software will also be important for commercialization. Geographic Mismatch Telemedicine can potentially provide emergency services to rural areas, but a fair amount of work is needed to set up an appropriate model.
Emergency medicine requires a complex, multi-disciplinary approach.
Geographic mismatch presents an opportunity to examine several important components for implementing telemedicine. Specifically, most emergency physicians are located in urban areas, and there are few incentives to draw these doctors to rural communities, where the volume of work is probably not sufficient to support their practices. Suboptimal emergency services carry a high financial and social cost. Minor changes could provide dramatic improvements through the establishment of programs that concentrate on enhanced effectiveness. For example, geographic mismatch is a key factor in unnecessarily high morbidity and mortality rates in rural communities, and both are compounded by failure to recognize the need for transfer, restricted access to specialists, reduced efficiencies, repetitive management errors, and variability of care.