At present in the case of on-board medical problems, the person responsible for healthcare on a ship can only contact a radio medical center and ask for a diagnosis or a second opinion. These medical centers are often unable to perform comprehensive diagnoses since they cannot evaluate the whole medical situation of the patient and do not have available clinical data, which is attributable to the lack of resources and technology. Therefore, this results in significant costs for the ship-owner (or the insurer) and lack of good quality medical care for the patient.

The maritime telemedicine service is a relatively new concept with business potential that has yet to be fully investigated and realised. An integrated solution for health services on-board ships is not readily available in Europe.

