Telemedicine for prisons and jail population: A solution to increase access to care

There are more than 10.4 million people incarcerated in penal institutions throughout the world. The United States has the largest prison population, followed by China, the Russian Federation, Brazil, India, Thailand, Mexico, and Iran. Providing healthcare services to these inmates is complex, challenging, and expensive. Lack of healthcare providers who wish to provide healthcare services in a prison system, combined with other serious challenges to provide care to this population, is evident. The use of telemedicine for prisoners has been successfully incorporated into the prison systems around in many countries at varying levels. It is extremely expensive to transport an inmate from a prison to the hospital for a visit, and it is potentially dangerous; moreover, there is no reason to expose the inmate hand-cuffed and in an orange suit to the community of the hospitals. Everything, short of major surgery, can be done remotely. This chapter reviews the current status of telemedicine for prisoners.