Abaixo você encontra algumas definições relativas ao conceito de TeleHealth, bem como um breve histórico de sua utilização ao longo dos anos.

The words TeleHealth, telemedicine, and e-health are often used interchangeably.

Telehealth is generally used as an umbrella term to describe all the possible variations of healthcare service using electronic communications and information technology. It includes the facilitation of health assessment and diagnosis, intervention, consultation, supervision, education, and the conveyance of information via analogue and digital media.

A TeleHealth system comprises:

- People – users and providers of health services

- TeleHealth application technology – hardware, software and peripheral devices

- Telecommunications and network links – the means by which users are linked, including telephone and cable lines, Internet, satellites, and digital networks.

Two different kinds of technology make up most of the telehealth applications in use today. The first, called store-and-forward, refers to captured digital images (still or video), audio clips, and / or data that are stored at one location and then sent to another location at a later time (i.e.,  asynchronous). E-mail and facsimile (fax machines) are commonly used forms of store-and-forward.

Real-time technology allows audio / visual data to be sent and received simultaneously (i.e., synchronous). The telephone is the most commonly used form of realtime technology. Two-way interactive video teleconferencing (VTC) fits into this category, and for many is a synonym for telehealth.

Telemedicine is a more restrictive term than telehealth. It describes the provision or support of  direct clinical care via telecommunications – diagnosing, treating, or followingup with a patient at a distance. For a more detailed definition and description of telemedicine, please refer to the following websites:

- The Telemedicine Research Centre (TRC)-Telemedicine Primer: http://trc.telemed.org/telemedicine/primer.asp

- Telemedicine Information Exchange (TIE) Telemed 101: http://tie.telemed.org/telemed101/

 
Regarding the application of telehealth to the provision of mental health services, telepsychology and telepsychiatry refer to the provision of psychological and psychiatric services respectively, while telemental health refers to broader mental health system applications. Generally, the preferred term depends on the setting and the professionals involved, as the processes and effects are the same regardless of terminology.

E-Health most often refers to Internet-based telehealth services. Internet-based activities can be classified as either informatics (i.e., databases, websites, etc.) or human exchanges. Computer Mediated Communications (CMC) using networked computers can promote human interaction and collaboration through both store-and forward and real-time interactions.

Telematics is the broadest term of all and is used to describe all aspects of the merging of  computers and telecommunications. Another related term is ICT – Information and Communications Technologies – essentially the same thing as telematics. Telematic technologies include videoconferencing, satellite television, CMC, and the Internet. More detailed information about telematics can be accessed at:

- University of Plymouth website: http://www.fae.plym.ac.uk/tele/tele.html

 
Definitions of Other Terminology: Other sources provide definitions for a broad list of terms with which individuals involved in an interactive telecommunications network should be familiar, whether they are involved in telemedicine, telehealth or distance education.

Definitions of key terms can be accessed at:

- Office for Advancement of Telehealth, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Glossary and definitions: http://telehealth.hrsa.gov/pubs/mental/glossary.htm

- Calgary Health Region, Telehealth definitions: http://www.crha-health.ab.ca/telehealth/definitions.htm

- Health Canada: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ohih-bsi/theme/tele/index_e.html

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The use of television and space technologies in health care has occurred since the 1950s. The following time line of projects, while not exhaustive, illustrates the breadth, longevity, and international scope of telehealth. Descriptions of these and other projects are available via the world wide web.

1920 – First use of radio technology to provide health care support to ships at sea by Haukeland Hospital in Norway

1924 – Radio News magazine illustration of a physician viewing his patient over a radio with a TV screen; TV was not invented until 1929

1945 – Centre of Maritime Health Care consultation established in France

1951 – First cross-state demonstration of telemedicine at New York World’s Fair

1954 – Use of a one-way closed circuit television to train medical students at Nebraska Medical Centre

1955 – Introduction of interactive audio link between distance education presenter at Nebraska Psychiatric Institute and seven Midwest U.S. psychiatric hospitals

1956 – Dr. Albert Jutras introduces teleradiology in Montreal

1959 – First audio-visual interactive system established at Nebraska Psychiatric Institute to provide tele-education and telepsychiatry

1964 - Nebraska Psychiatric Institute established link with state hospital via microwave technology, enabling picture and sound transmissions from multiple locations

1967 – Two-way audiovisual microwave used by Massachusetts General Hospital to provide emergency care (including psychiatric consultations) to patients at Logan International Airport

1968 – Closed circuit link established between Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and a rural hospital in New Hampshire to provide user-friendly mental health consultation

1971 – Satellite video consultation project established in Alaska to improve quality of rural health care

1972 – 1975 – Mobile van utilizing two-way microwave audio transmission used to deliver medical care to the Papago Indian Reservation in Arizona

1984 - Australian North-West Telemedicine Project established to provide health care to Aborigines and other island-dwellers in five remote towns

1988 - SpaceBridge to Armenia / Ufa, a large international telemedicine program implemented by NASA, provided consultations for earthquake and railway accident victims using one-way video, voice, and facsimile between medical centers in Armenia and Russia and four medical centers in the U.S.

1989 – Creation of the European Institute of Telemedicine Recent Developments The last decade has seen a steady increase in the number of telehealth projects throughout the world. Many of the early telehealth projects pioneered the use of satellite and 1988 -- SpaceBridge to Armenia / Ufa, a large international telemedicine program implemented by NASA, provided consultations for earthquake and railway accident victims using one-way video, voice, and facsimile between medical centers in Armenia and Russia and four medical centers in the U.S.

1989 – Creation of the European Institute of Telemedicine Recent Developments The last decade has seen a steady increase in the number of telehealth projects throughout the world. Many of the early telehealth projects pioneered the use of satellite and microwave technologies. More recently, the development of the internet has stimulated vast interest in health related information (tele-learning) and in the prospect of widely available web-based services. The internet is currently an astounding health resource, with particular strengths in relation to store-and-forward materials (archived text and video). The use of the internet to support interactive health communications (i.e., synchronous videoconferencing) is less developed at present, as challenges are being addressed in relation to ensuring adequate bandwidth, security, and interoperability with other modalities. The Telemedicine Information Exchange lists over 130 sites internationally.