Talk:Telehealth

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[edit] Telehealth vs. Telemedicine

I have been reading about telehealth and telemedicine and it seems that both terms are most of the time used interchangeably. From the latest I have read, telehealth is sometimes defined as broader in scope than telemedicine. But I do wonder, do we need two separate articles or should there be just one article and let the other one redirect to it? Books fan 16:14, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

The wikipedia articles contradict each other re the distinction betweeen telehealth and telemedicine. I was going to try to de-conflict, but would welcome help, input, comments. Journalist1983 15:05, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

See my comment on definition of telemedicine page. These two articles should be merged. "Telemedicine" as is presently used encompasses "cybermedicine" and "cybersurgery". Often, "telemedicine" programs are part of larger "E-Health" initiatives. Definitions of telemedicine vary widely. The WHO definition is useful, and quite broad. "Telehealth" is used just about ONLY (nowadays) in the US Medicare statute (defining what services are reimbursable). "Telehealth" for purposes of Medicare reimbursement is currently limited to real time technologies. This change was made by the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act (BIPA 2000). [Anonymous 4/18/08] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.184.99.4 (talk) 05:34, 18 April 2008 (UTC)