Rethinking telemedicine evaluation for a new technological era
by Victoria Garshnek, L. Harrison Hassell
International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management (IJHTM), Vol. 2, No. 1/2/3/4, 2000

Abstract: For over three decades, healthcare providers have used advanced telecommunications technology to extend medicine's reach into dispersed geographical locations. This technology-based healthcare delivery process is called telemedicine, or ''medicine at a distance''. Telemedicine enables electronic transmission of patient information between healthcare providers via a variety of modalities. Despite the promise of this new approach and significant expenditure of funds, few rigorous comparative evaluation studies of the impact of telemedicine on the cost, quality, and access to healthcare or patient/provider acceptability have been done. In a new, rapidly changing technological era, evaluation of telemedicine is especially crucial to ensure future success and efficient use of resources. Telemedicine evaluation investigates the impact of telecommunications technologies on healthcare delivery and provides evidence of their effectiveness. Past failures illuminate factors that can thwart the success of future studies. To improve research efforts, the Joint Working Group on Telemedicine (JWGT), charged with coordinating activities across Federal cabinet agencies, has developed a broad and useful evaluation framework for telemedicine to strengthen designs and promote comparable evaluations. Additionally, a number of government and private organisations have supported improved evaluation frameworks and strategies. The military in particular is showing promise in pioneering modern evaluation methodology. In this paper, the authors discuss past stumbling blocks, new strategies, and examples where evaluation methodology is being applied in a new technological era.

Online publication date: Mon, 30-Jun-2003

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management (IJHTM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com