The benefits of teleconsultation, namely the use of videoconferencing in rural communities is multifaceted.
The use of this medium in the provision of health care:
- Eliminates the barriers of distance and improves access to health services or information that may not be available in remote communities
- Plays an invaluable role in critical care situations where moving a patient may not be possible
- Facilitates access to specialist health services and support
- Provides patients with access to health information and advice from health care professionals in their homes, schools or community centres, enabling the public to be more active in their own health management
- Lessens the inconvenience and/or cost of patient transfer
- Eliminates the need for patients to incur financial burden to travel elsewhere for specialized care
- Reduces unnecessary travel time for health care professionals and improves the ability to recruit and retain health professionals
- Reduces remote practice isolation by enhancing physician, nurse and allied health professional access to colleagues and specialists (British Columbia Ministry of Health Planning, 2001).
