Telemedicine, or the use of telecommunication technologies for the delivery of medical services, has been receiving increasing attention as a possible answer to the tyranny of distance and the scarcity of specialist resources in rural and remote Australia [1,2]. While internationally teleradiology and teledermatology are the most frequent users of the technology, in Australia it is psychiatry that has been quick to recognise the potential of telemedicine and to use it for the delivery of specialist psychiatric support. In Australia telepsychiatry is one of the most common forms of telemedicine with some of the most established and successful tele-psychiatry programmes in the world.
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References
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YellowleesPMKennedyC.Telemedicine: here to stay. Medical Journal of Australia1997;166:262–265.
2.
YellowleesPMKavanaghS.The use of telemedicine in mental health service provision. Australasian Psychiatry1994;2:268–270.
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BaigentMFLloydCJKavanaghSBen-TovimDIYellowleesPMKalucyRSBondMJ. Telepsychiatry: ‘tele’ yes, but what about the ‘psychiatry’?Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, Supp. 1, 1997; 3:12–14.
