DD, Simpson WM Jr, Burton JR. Relationship of long-term and acute-care facilities: the problem of patient transfer and continuity of care. J Am Geriatr Soc 1985;33:819–26. 24. Gordon WZ, Kane RL, Rothenberg R. Acute hospitalization in a home for the aged. J Am Geriatr Soc 1985;33:519–23. 25. Castle SC, Yeh M, Norman DC, et al. Fever response in the elderly: are the older truly colder? J Am Geriatr Soc 1991;39:853–7. 26. Castle SC, Yeh M, Toledo S. et al. Lowering the temperature criterion improveInfectious Diseases Society of America Position Statement on Telehealth and Telemedicine as Applied to the Practice of Infectious Diseases Javeed Siddiqui,1 Thomas Herchline,2 Summerpal Kahlon,3 Kay J. Moyer, 4 John D. Scott,5 Brian R. Wood,6 and Jeremy Young7 1 TeleMed2U, Roseville, CA; 2 Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio; 3 Oracle Health Sciences Global Business Unit, Orlando, Florida; 4 Clinical Affairs, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Arlington, Virginia; 5 Department of Medicine, and 6 Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle; 7 Division of Infectious Diseases, Immunology, and International Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago The use of telehealth and telemedicine offers powerful tools for delivering clinical care, conducting medical research, and enhancing access to infectious diseases physicians. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has prepared a position statement to educate members on the use of telehealth and telemedicine technologies. The development of telehealth and telemedicine programs requires the consideration of several issues such as HIPAA, state and local licensure requirements, credentialing and privileging, scope of care, quality, and responsibility and liability. IDSA supports appropriate use of telehealth and telemedicine to provide timely, cost-effective specialty care to resource-limited populations. Keywords. telehealth; telemedicine; antimicrobial stewardship; infectious diseases; store-and-forward. The use of telehealth and telemedicine is becoming increasingly common as a method for providing clinical care, conducting clinical research, and enhancing access to continuing medical education. Physicians, clinics, and medical centers are harnessing modern telecommunication technologies to manage a multitude of acute and chronic conditions, as well as incorporating distance-based technologies into teaching and research. Given the broader availability and affordability of high-quality telehealth and telemedicine equipment, changes to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, a growing number of states with billing parity laws for private insurance, patient acceptance, and support in the literature [1], the use of synchronous and asynchronous telemedicine will likely be incorporated into the clinical care models of a growing number of infectious diseases (ID) physicians. An important consideration for the use of telehealth and telemedicine includes the potential for cost savings, on both an individual-patient level and for the healthcare system in general. For example, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been using telehealth technologies since the 1990s to assist in treatment of diseases such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Analysis of VHA healthcare expenditures during 2012 showed an annual savings of $6500 for each patient who participated in a telehealth program [2]. The savings in 2012 for the VHA, attributable to telehealth technologies, amounted to almost $1 billion in total savings across the entire VHA system during 2012 [3]. Other cost-savings estimates suggest that $4.28 billion could be saved with the use of store-and-forward, real-time communication, and remote patient monitoring when used in emergency departments, prisons, nursing home facilities, and physician offices [4]. The technologies spanning telehealth, telemedicine, and mobile health (mHealth) are evolving rapidly. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) supports appropriate and evidence-based use of telehealth and telemedicine