%0 Journal Article %T Impact of satellite based telemedicine systems in rural areas of Tamilnadu %A Sunitha Kuppuswamy %A Vidya Pandian %J Calicut Medical Journal %D 2008 %I %X Most of the global populations are living in the rural areas of the developing countries. They represent the largest patient group who suffer from various diseases. And it is in the rural areas, that we have the shortage of eminent doctors, hospitals and modern health care technologies. Appropriate technology to meet the rural conditions of the developing countries at an affordable cost is the need of the hour.As technologies for data compression and electronic transmission improve, telemedicine provides new opportunities for strengthening the rural health infrastructure. This could overcome traditional geographical and social barriers to obtaining high quality diagnosis and treatment. These benefits could be especially great within developing countries, which might be able to train more health staff cheaply, and stretch their limited health resources by accessing international information and expertise. This study aims to find the effectiveness of telemedicine system, in terms of its potential to improve access to health care services for rural populations through case study and in-depth interviews %U http://www.calicutmedicaljournal.org/2008/4/e5.pdf