Abstract
As 2012 draws to completion, it is a time of reflection. It has been a year of terrible weather, terrible financial news, wonderful science, and superb scholarship, and by the time of this publication we will be done with the elections in the United States, and perhaps the Eurocrisis will be near resolution. New governments struggle with our heartfelt encouragement in many parts of the world, and we inch closer to the Millennium Development Goals for health. It is our hope that Telemedicine and e-Health has been a little help along the way in our specialties.
The Journal went to 10 issues per year in 2008 and has seen expansion of readership worldwide and high-quality content. The submissions have been brisk and numbers have been growing while we have become an official journal of not only the American Telemedicine Association, which founded the journal with Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers, but also the Canadian Telehealth Forum of COACH and the International Society for Telemedicine and e-Health. Our Editorial Board has evolved to reflect the international and specialty advances in the field. Telemedicine and e-Health has worked diligently with the trends in Web-based editing and offerings beyond print. We are current, pertinent, and accessible!!
At this interval we want to thank some people and note some progress. Telemedicine and e-Health has been a special effort by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers since Ms. Liebert started it in 1994. Her attention, talent, and devotion to our journal have never wavered. Liebert publishes over 70 journals that reflect boldness in science, new trends, and sound editorial experience. Much credit goes to Ms. Vicki Cohn, who has been our spirit and muse as the Telemedicine and e-Health reached to 140 countries and grew to meet the expectations of our readers. She is not only the publishing arm of what we do but indeed gets into the detail when appropriate with a depth of knowledge in publishing and telemedicine that reveal years of experience and caring about our subject.
At the end of this year, we assume the Mayan doomsday did not happen. Therefore it is reasonable to look ahead a bit!! We are not standing still by any means. We are going to 12 issues with Volume 19. That may seem like not much. Not so!! This is a big effort to shorten publication time and make our content the best. We have refined our focus to peer-reviewed articles to make room for all the wonderful work our authors continue to submit. We are strongly encouraging a broad array of subjects with one overriding question to our reviewers: Is this material helpful to our readers in the anticipated or current practice of telemedicine? Of course, we have other criteria of excellence and quality, but duty to our readers is paramount.
Now we must ask something of our readers. This journal is dynamic, and its utility and future are yours!! This journal is to serve you in the progress and evolution of telemedicine into the fabric and infrastructure of the new paradigm of patient-centered, accessible, and affordable care supported by telecommunications and information science. Tell us what you need!! Your editors are listening, and our publisher is supportive. Tell us what you do not like as well!! In our effort to move forward we may be doing something that makes this journal less helpful. Keep this your journal!! Thank you for all you do as we celebrate a fine year and anticipate a better future for medicine and our patients.