Editorial - Vol 3, No 1:  Telehealth Lessons from the Pacific: PACNET / WESTERN PACIFIC HEALTHNET - Pacific Telehealth Conference

This month’s edition of Healthcare Review – Online^TM focusses on telemedicine, an area of increasing importance in health care.

Telemedicine has much to offer in terms of providing high quality of care. Key advantages include the ability to consult a remote specialist, which may remove the necessity to transport the patient, improved response times by clinicians to whom critical information can be made immediately available, and the ability to network with other practitioners to discuss problems, thus breaking down the isolation experienced by many practitioners.

It is the latter feature that has driven the growth of telemedicine in the Pacific region. In this edition, we present a summary of material presented at the PACNET/WESTERN PACIFIC HEALTHNET – Pacific Telehealth Conference held in Noumea, New Caledonia, from 30 November to 4 December 1998. The application of new information and communication technologies to improve communication and networking amongst health professionals was a focus of the conference, with use of technology for consultation, distance education and developing a laboratory network being key subjects for discussion.

Medical practitioners in the Pacific often operate in relative isolation, dealing with diverse health care needs, many of which arise infrequently because of the small populations served. Telemedicine has proven to offer a cost-effective approach to the off-island referral, which has been a past feature of care in this region, and has in many cases consumed a significant percentage of health care expenditure.

The health care needs of the Pacific region have driven a rapid growth in the use of telemedicine, which is being demonstrated to be a cost-effective solution to the specific problem of isolation. Others who face similar issues can benefit from the broad base of experience now generated.