telemedicine

noun

tele·​med·​i·​cine ˌte-lə-ˈme-də-sən 

-ˈmed-sən

: medical care provided remotely to a patient in a separate location using two-way voice and visual communication (as by computer or cell phone)

Telemedicine is increasingly used for disease monitoring and management of chronic medical and mental disorders …

—Kurt Kroenke

Even if no other good for health care emerges from the coronavirus crisis, one development—the incorporation of telemedicine into routine medical care—promises to be transformative.

—Jane E. Brody

For patients, telemedicine apps are a cheap, easy alternative to nonemergency consultations …

—Alexandra Sifferlin

Examples of telemedicine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After a telemedicine visit, pills are then prescribed and patients can pick them up and take them, all within the borders of a state where the procedure is legal. —Abigail Brooks, NBC News, 7 Apr. 2024

Those focused on the F.D.A. decisions about telemedicine and pills by mail. —Abbie Vansickle, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2024

The doctors challenging the case argue that two decisions by the FDA – one in 2016 decision that expanded when mifepristone can be used and a 2021 decision that allowed the drug to be prescribed through telemedicine – failed to follow the proper procedure. —Daniel Desrochers, Kansas City Star, 25 Mar. 2024

Since 2016, the agency has liberalized its regulations to permit patients to consult a doctor through telemedicine and to obtain the pills without traveling to a clinic. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024

In the case of medication abortions, the doctor who administers the pills must be the same one the woman saw for her counseling appointment, and the pills cannot be taken remotely via telemedicine. —Journal Sentinel, 20 Feb. 2024

That change opened the way for telemedicine prescriptions which are now used by many women in states that ban abortions. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024

That decision limited the time frame in which it can be taken to the first seven weeks of pregnancy and put telemedicine access, as well as access to the generic version of the drug in jeopardy. —Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 25 Mar. 2024

In ads on Google, Facebook and elsewhere, testosterone telemedicine websites may promise a quick fix for sluggishness and low libido in men. —Michael Scaturro, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

telemedicine

noun

tele·​med·​i·​cine -ˈmed-ə-sən, -ˈmed-sən 

: medical care provided remotely to a patient in a separate location using two-way voice and visual communication (as by computer or cell phone)

telemedical

-ˈmed-i-kəl 

adjective