Application of telemedicine in a pain clinic: the changing face of medical practice.

Telemedicine systems aim to provide quality health care services to persons whose access is otherwise restricted by geography and environment. The military medical department has a unique mission to provide all medical care for the battlefields and peacekeeping missions anywhere in the world. In addition, the medical department has to ensure the health of all soldiers, family members, and retirees during peacetime. Hospital closures coupled with a decreased number of military physicians have left many health care beneficiaries without readily available specialty care. They face long waiting lists or incur high out-of-pocket expenses in order to see medical specialists. As a result of the establishment of a virtual Telepain clinic, 56,400 miles were saved in patient and clinician travel. Use of technologies in the emerging field of telemedicine has lead to the creation of numerous military and civilian medical applications such as virtual dermatology, virtual psychiatry, virtual cardiology, virtual nuclear medicine/radiology, virtual pharmacology, and in future, virtual dentistry and ophthalmology.