Review

Insight into the issues of e-health

TAKING HEALTH TELEMATICS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
Rigby M, Roberts R and Thick M (eds)
Radcliffe Medical Press, 2000

It is an unenviable task to edit any book where the material is probably out of date before it is written. Add to this the rapid sell-by date usually afforded by conference proceedings (in this case one held in December 1998) and a title that already seems quaint and the demise of this book might seem assured.

Surprisingly, however, this book does succeed and indeed excel. This is testimony both to the perspectives offered by a distinguished collection of contributors and the freshness provided by the several case studies. Instead of the tired, turned-up leftovers of presentations that have ‘done the rounds’ at innumerable conferences, the book provides insights that take us into this new century.

Contributors from the UK, such as Jeremy Wyatt and Adrian Grant, are augmented by presenters from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Australia and the US to give an international flavour to a subject where distance should indeed be no object.

Ironically the title, likely to attract the cognoscenti rather than a wider clinical audience, could mean that the book receives less exposure than it rightly deserves. In fact it covers all aspects of e-health from the accessible technologies of NHS Direct through to the more specialist areas of the video-consultation.

This is not simply a book for the ‘techie’ or the ‘nerd’ – it explores the diverse societal, ethical and legal dimensions of the technologies associated with telemedicine and telecare and manages to do so without resorting to jargon.

The book covers the comparatively neglected areas of commissioning the new technologies and the patient’s perspective and the chapter on evaluating the impact of telemedicine is as good an overview of this important topic as you could hope for.

If your idea of telemedicine is watching George Clooney then this is required reading – the computer will see you now.