Telehealth Heads Toward the Mainstream

From the July/August 2011 print issue of Government Health IT.

When the Ford Motor Company announced plans in mid-May to partner with at least three companies to develop healthcare apps for the company's car-based platform, telemedicine experts around the country offered a hesitant smile. Could this be the big break they've been waiting for? Could telemedicine finally gain mainstream attention?

Long thought to be stuck in the realm of academic medical universities and small-scale pilot projects, telemedicine – and telehealth, and mHealth, and all the other names being used for this wide-ranging healthcare field – may be turning a corner, thanks to some high-profile implementations...