Telemedicine, the linkage of ICT and health services, is a field in which Norway has the potential to make a mark internationally. Most of the Norwegian activity in telemedicine can now be traced to the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, which is based at the university hospitals of North Norway and is an official partner of the World Health Organization.
ICT has not traditionally been a high priority in the Norwegian health system. As a result, critical information sometimes has not been available to health professionals when they need it. Practitioners of telemedicine try to solve this problem by using ICT equipment to coordinate, monitor, train and manage the activities of health-care officials, medical institutions and patients.
Mini-laboratories stored on a chip; communication systems for sharing sensitive patient information; networks for recording and analyzing outbreaks of sickness; and electronic journals are among the many products and solutions available in this sector. In addition are technologies that permit specialists to treat patients who are located far away.
The Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine is able to provide more extensive information on this segment of the Norwegian health-care industry.