Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association
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The extraordinary successes and refinement of modern telemedicine applications in recent years have been diminished somewhat by the anachronistic licensure laws of the 50 state jurisdictions that limit the practice of medicine to specific state geographic boundaries. This approach is deficient when applied to telemedicine because, with the advent of the Internet and modern technological advances, differences in space and time are rendered nearly meaningless. ⋯ It is therefore recommended that a voluntary, regional geographic approach be instituted by jurisdictions already demonstrating a commonality of interests, such as through the Southern Governors' Association or the Western Governors' Association. The benefits to be derived from this approach would include improving access to healthcare and medical specialists, enhancing the quality and timeliness of care, cutting medical costs by moving information instead of people, securing patients' access to medical records and information, and facilitating commercial export of American telemedicine services.
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Infectious diseases are among the most common medical conditions suffered by soldiers while serving in missions away from their home countries. The diagnosis of these diseases requires special procedures and expertise, both of which are provided by field microbiological laboratories. In order to support the diagnostic process by means of telemedicine, a modification of the standard German Armed Forces telemedicine workstation was devised. ⋯ It allows the transmission of high-quality static images of microscopic specimens or overgrown nutrient media in a matter of seconds. The inclusion of experts in diagnostic analysis through the use of telemedicine improves diagnostic specificity by avoiding false positive results and, particularly in medical parasitology, allows a treatment-essential diagnosis without the dispatch of specimens to Germany. The recently designed telemicrobiology module has been proven, and is now deployed, providing a higher level of field diagnostic support than previously possible.