Abstract
Telemedicine projects in the past have demonstrated the potential of telecommunication services to improve healthcare and reduce costs by providing patient consultations and continuing education to remote healthcare practitioners. With the lowered costs of related technologies and increased network capabilities it is likely that telemedicine could transform health care, even for non-isolate, general populations.
It is difficult, however, to identify information on elements affecting the success of past telemedicine projects. This may be because information on these projects is either unpublished, or is hidden in obscure government reports (Brown, 1982). If telemedicine services are to be routinely provided, it is necessary that those implementing these services have a concise summary of the critical success factors of past projects. This chapter has attempted to gather that information from primary sources fo information: the administrators of past telemedicine projects.