Barriers of Taking up Telehealth in the Developed Countries

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor for supporting me throughout my project and giving his valuable suggestions. Finally thanks to all my friends and family for their utmost support and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It also represents my own views & not essentially the ones associated with university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

INTRODUCTION1

Telehealth1

A Brief history of telehealth in developed countries: Case of the United States1

Telehealth in remote First Nations communities2

First Nations-led telehealth3

Trust Management Using PKI and Biometrics6

Securing work flow-Based Telehealth Applications6

Aims of the Study7

Objectives of the Study7

Purpose of the Study7

Rationale of the Study8

Research Questions8

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY9

Applications of Telehealth9

Security in Telehealth Applications10

Telemonitoring11

Online Tele-Monitoring12

Offline Tele-Monitoring13

Evidence on Heart Failure Outcomes and Telehealth14

Mortality14

Hospitalization16

Background on Technology Approaches to Modernization17

Barriers of taking up Telehealth18

Telehealth in the United States18

Telehealth in Australia19

Telehealth in Alaska19

Health Technology Assessment20

Technological Barrier21

CHAPTER # 2: METHODS22

Methodology22

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria23

Literature Sources24

Literature Critique25

Authors26

Titles and Abstracts26

Ethical Considerations27

Key Words27

Appraisal Framework28

REFERENCES29

INTRODUCTION

Telehealth

This study refers to the introduction of digital telehealth to remote First Nations communities. In using the term 'telehealth', 'digital telehealth' is meant. The word has not been referred to the relationship between the terms 'telehealth' and 'telehealth', other than to note an observation made by Cervinskas (1984), who places the terms "telehealth" and "telehealth" as being interchangeable, though she acknowledges that "some workers in the field take exception to the term 'telehealth' and advocate instead the term 'telehealth'" to express the idea that '''telehealth' implies a broader range of health-related activities than 'telehealth' does". I take the view that the semantic difference is less important in the context of remote First Nations communities, given that most of what happens in telehealth and telehealth is confined within the walls of a small rural clinic. Thus, telehealth is clinical health care at-a-distance.

The federal authority on health care in U.S defines telehealth (using the term "telehealth") strictly in such terms: "a patient getting a face-to-face examination by a remotely located doctor, through interactive video- conferencing" (Health U.S, 2005). In technical terms, telehealth is an ICT application that allows the transmission of voice, vital signs and images electronically, securely and confidentially.

A Brief history of telehealth in developed countries: Case of the United States

As early as 1977, there were clear ideas about what telehealth could be, and foresight about how technological improvements in health care-at-a-distance could bring particular advantages for rural and remote populations: The advantages of telehealth are: patient travel and inconvenience can be reduced: decentralized sites can handle more complex cases: remote sites are more professionally attractive because the providers feel less isolated and part of a complete system, and because they feel more comfortable with difficult decisions when they have the ability to consult readily; and patient services can be facilitated and coordinated. The disadvantages are: it is expensive, and ...