Title: The AKAMAI evaluation initiative: evaluating the impact of telemedicine on healthcare delivery (Phase I)

Authors: Victoria Garshnek, L. H. Hassell

Addresses: Pacific Regional Program Office, Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, USA. AMEDD Studies Branch, AMEDD Center and School, Fort Sam, Houston, Texas, USA

Abstract: Telemedicine is the use of modern telecommunications and information technologies for clinical care of individuals at a distance. It has the potential to profoundly alter the medical landscape worldwide. One effort in particular, Project AKAMAI, is contributing to this vision by pioneering the implementation of telemedicine in the Pacific. AKAMAI is a federally funded programme designed to augment healthcare delivery to the Department of Defence and beneficiaries in the Pacific using advanced telecommunications technology. The objective is to provide healthcare policy-makers with scientific and technical information. AKAMAI, led by Tripler Army Medical Centre (TAMC), Hawaii, consists of 29 individual projects and studies. Among these is a research study evaluating telemedicine in a limited setting (consultation between Schofield Barracks Clinic, Hawaii, and TAMC in the areas of dermatology and orthopaedics). The study consists of four sub projects in the areas of clinical outcomes, patient/provider satisfaction, organisational impact, and cost/benefit, with the intention of providing information on the influence of telemedicine insertion into a military healthcare system. The evaluation study will be conducted in three phases Phase I (infrastructure design/instrument and procedure development); Phase II (experiment verification test or system/procedure simulation) and Phase III (experiment/data analysis). Phase I is currently in progress.

Keywords: evaluation; internet; Pacific; telecommunications; telemedicine.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.1999.001054

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 1999 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.227-232

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article