[Networked medical services: is a vision becoming a reality?]

The Internet and the availability of information and communications technology are now offering new opportunities to health care systems. The quality of medical care processes in general is experiencing lasting improvement through the concentration of medical competencies in the Internet. Telemedical techniques such as telediagnosis, telemonitoring and telerehabilitation are becoming basic features of standardized and interdisciplinary treatment methods. However, one major prerequisite for their use is that the patient's privacy always remains securely protected. The new technical possibilities offered by information and communications technology will be accepted only if suitable financial models are found and if an adequate measure of legal security can be obtained in connection with the legal and ethical questions posed by a network-transparent medical engineering industry.