The experience of a rural general practitioner using videoconferencing for telemedicine.

A telemedicine link was installed between a mining town in Western Australia and clinical specialists in Perth, about 1800 km away. Standard commercial videoconferencing units connected by ISDN at 128 kbit/s were used. During a two-year period, 90 teleconsultations were carried out. About one-third of the injuries to mining construction workers were eye problems. In more than 75% of teleconsultations a patient transfer to Perth was avoided.