[Health service research of telemedicine applications]

The current descriptive review summarizes health service research in the area of telemedicine and health telematics with respect to the increasing, but slow implementation of health telematics in medical care. Findings of the review are summarized under three areas: the prevalence and use of three selected applications (computerized physician prescriptions, electronic health records, and electronic decision support). Findings of the review show that there is only very limited research on the impact of telemedicine on routine care in the selected study areas. In general, only a small percentage of physicians actively use the more comprehensive functions of electronic health records or electronic prescribing and there is almost no evidence showing a relationship between outcomes of health care and the implementation of electronic health records on a broad level despite some evidence concerning the impact of clinical decision support.