Abstract
Telemedicine is one of the most significant developments in the field of high-tech medicine. However the current use of telemedical applications is far beyond the potential opportunities and telemedicine has a polarising influence on both health care professionals and patients. Telemedicine aims at overcoming the spatial relationship between doctor and patient or between health care professionals thus affecting the area of doctor patient communication. At present, telemedicine has neither been investigated from a medical psychological perspective nor have telemedical applications been classified in respect to their impact on doctor patient communication. A taxonomy of telemedical applications is presented with the aim of establishing prototypes from the perspective of the technology sequels. A literature review was conducted on telemedicine and doctor patient communication or psychosocial aspects in order to provide a basis for identifying medical psychology research approaches. Research deficits as well as implications for doctor patient communication and potential risks of telemedical devices are discussed.
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