<human>:  What is the history of telemedicine in the United States?
<bot>: Telemedicine in the United States has a long and complex history. It dates back to the late 18th century, when Benjamin Rush, a founding father of the country and a physician, founded the nation’s first medical society to connect physicians across the country. In the 1950s and 1960s, the development of the internet and advances in telecommunications allowed for telemedicine to become more of a reality. However, it didn’t become widely adopted until the advent of high-speed networks in the 1990s. Since then, telemedicine has continued to grow and evolve, with many hospitals, medical centers, and private practices integrating it into their practice. Today, it is used for a wide range of activities, such as remote diagnostics, patient monitoring, and chronic disease management.