The term telemedicine, as highlighted, was the first to be used in the practice of health care to distant. In 1999 a congress held in the United States suggested a larger definition for the term, thus described: "the use of technology telecommunications and information to transfer medical information in processes of diagnosis, therapy and education.
Craig Patterson and suggest the following definition: "fast access to the experience (medical) by means of telecommunications and information technologies, no matter where the patient is located or information."

In recent years, with greater involvement of systems of electronic communication, the major international organizations - the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union (EU), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and European Space Agency (ESA) - adopted officially the terminology e-Health.
In the twenty-first century, starting with the definition cited above, various professions have been used resources from e-Health, motivated by the expansion of accessibility to equipment and other technological resources, the agility of processing and the provision of information, the opportunities to work with data in very broaden the prospects clinical-demographic, epidemiological, production etc-help considerably in the development of best practices in the area of health, whether directed to the organization of health services, or the qualifications of assistance to these users. One concern is that if the professionals fetch a low cost for its application, it is self-sustaining and to assess its effectiveness, in addition to the satisfaction of users.

The telecare is a practice in some countries, being employed when the use of technological resources and welfare of telehealth allow the promotion of medical care at a distance, for patients with special needs, chronic diseases, old age, mental disorders and others, limiting or preventing its locomotion. This way telecare can exempt the distance, at home or institution where the patient resides in mobile units for intensive treatment or in mobile units of medical assistance (SAMU, Rescue and others).

Thus, the design and derivations of the terms in e-Health every day suffering comes changes, introducing innovations in relation to its use and its comprehensiveness. The prefix "tele" has been added to the topics covered, such as telemedicine, teleradiology, teledermatology, teledentistry and many others.