“Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve the health status of patients” (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013 , p. 156. ) Telemedicine is a tool that allows providers to deliver healthcare services to patients in distant locations and is often promoted as a means of addressing imbalances in the distribution of healthcare resources (Wager, Lee and Glaser, 2013, p. 156.) Telemedicine can be as simple as a telephone conversation between two doctors in different locations or as complex as the use of satellite technology to provide a consultation between a doctor and a patient who are located in different countries . Telemedicine may also include the use of e -mail, smartphones, wireless tools, and other forms of telecommunications technologies (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 156). According to Wager, Lee, and Glaser there are two delivery methods that can be used to connect providers with providers or providers with patients (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 157.) The first is called store to forward, which is used to transfer digital images from one location to another (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 157). The second is called two-way interactive video conferencing, which is used when a face-to-face consultation is required (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 157). The use of two-way interactive video conferencing can allow specialist providers to access their patients in rural communities without having to travel. in the military and university research, there are other forms of telemedicine such as robotic equipment used for telesurgery. Telemedicine can make specialty care more accessible to rural and medically underserved communities and can easily connect providers to… middle of paper. ....there are many concerns that should be addressed by all medical facilities, regardless of size. These are: user verification, access, authentication, security and data integrity. Conclusion Telemedicine will continue to expand, according to the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), approximately 200 telemedicine networks have been established nationwide and over 50% of networks US hospitals use at least one telemedicine service (Frederick, 2013, p . 12). Telemedicine holds great promise in health information technology, not only promising to improve healthcare delivery but also helping to serve the most vulnerable patients. Both providers and patients, in order to improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations, thereby reducing health disparities and lowering healthcare costs across the spectrum, must broadly embrace telemedicine.