A patient medical support system is provided including at least one article of medical equipment and a two-way audio-visual system. Such equipment may be used, for example, for telemedicine applications by a patient discharged from a hospital, or other subject in need of remote health care monitoring. Electrical control circuitry is provided for monitoring and controlling usage of the medical support system, including determining operational mode and amount of usage of the medical equipment and/or telepresence system. Electrical control circuitry is provided for controlling a controllable lighting system of the patient medical support system to influence the amount or type of medically useful information in an image of the patient for remote visual monitoring.