Canada might have a universal health care system, but easy access to that system is not universal, especially for rural Canadians. That's why Canada has become a world leader in developing "telehealth" solutions, to help connect patients and their care providers.

A new study released this week shows that telehealth in Canada has grown by more than 35 per cent annually over the past five years. According to Canada Health Infoway -- the government-funded organization that invests with provinces in telehealth initiatives -- the country now has more than 5,700 telehealth systems in at least 1,175 communities across the country.

While many people think of dial-a-nurse systems when they think of telehealth, the term actually refers to a whole spectrum of services and includes all kinds of telephone and Web-based technologies for delivering health services.

It can include linking patients in remote locations to health care providers through live videoconferencing. It can mean having equipment in a patient's home that transmits vital information, such as blood pressure and respiratory function to a patient's health team for daily or frequent monitoring.

"So for a person who's got diabetes and a heart condition or a lung problem, you can have tools right in your own house so that your care team can monitor your blood pressure or your lung function, give you advice daily in terms of whether you need to change your medication, or your diet, or other types of things," Jennifer Zelmer, a senior vice-president at Canada Health Infoway, explained to Canada AM Tuesday.

In can also mean allowing health professionals to transmit images of wounds or other health images to specialists for advice. Or it can allow doctors to discuss among themselves through videoconferencing new treatments or technologies.

The report found that every province and territory in Canada uses some kind of telehealth system today to bring care closer to Canadians suffering from everything from heart disease to cancer to mental health issues.

According to the new study, almost 260,000 telehealth sessions were held in 2010.

Nearly half of the clinical telehealth sessions delivered care to patients from rural and remote communities – a key and necessary service, since 21 per cent of Canadians are considered rural dwellers. But telehealth services can also help urban dwellers who have trouble leaving their home for medical appointments, such as seniors or those in wheelchairs.

Zelmer says videoconferencing services are also widely used to provide mental health services, either through counselling, or patient checkups, or for connecting the care team.

All these telehealth services lead to both savings and convenience for patients. Canadians who received care via telehealth rather than travelling to towns and cities for care saved about $70 million in personal travel costs in 2010, the report estimates.

The health system also saved about $55 million per year, either by saving federal or provincial subsidized travel costs or by reducing hospitalizations for patients with chronic diseases.

Canada Health Infoway commissioned the study, which was conducted by Praxia Information Intelligence and Gartner.