Implementing an Intersectoral Telemedicine Network in Rural Areas: Evaluation from the Point of View of Telemedicine Users

Domenic Sommer, Sebastian Wilhelm, Diane Ahrens, Florian Wahl

2023

Abstract

Telemedicine (TMed) is becoming popular due to the growing number of elderly and the shortage of healthcare workers. In Germany, TMed is rarely part of rural healthcare, and the research state is limited. To improve healthcare and to research the conditions under which TMed can be used in German rural areas, an intersectoral, TMed network was set up from July 2018 to Oct. 2020 and evaluated with mixed methods, including qualitative interviews and quantitative feedback forms. Seven Use-Cases (UCs) were implemented in the dimensions: (i) home visits (n = 170), (ii) patient video consultation (n = 30), (iii) intensive care (n = 15), (iv) mountain accident (n = 6), (v) wound management (n = 6), (vi) caregiver video consultation (n = 3) and (vii) electronic health record (n = 10). Our study indicates that digitally supported general practitioner (GP)- home visits and intensive care are the most frequent UCs. TMed is satisfactory and leads to advantages for rural healthcare. However, vital data transmission and the electronic health record (eHR) were less in demand due to high preparation efforts. Findings from previous studies can be confirmed. Facilitators for TMed who should be considered and further researched are: training on digital literacy including awareness-rising, financing, cross-institutional documentation, and suitable mobile network infrastructure.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Sommer D., Wilhelm S., Ahrens D. and Wahl F. (2023). Implementing an Intersectoral Telemedicine Network in Rural Areas: Evaluation from the Point of View of Telemedicine Users. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: ICT4AWE, ISBN 978-989-758-645-3, SciTePress, pages 15-27. DOI: 10.5220/0011755500003476

in Bibtex Style

@conference{ict4awe23,
author={Domenic Sommer and Sebastian Wilhelm and Diane Ahrens and Florian Wahl},
title={Implementing an Intersectoral Telemedicine Network in Rural Areas: Evaluation from the Point of View of Telemedicine Users},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: ICT4AWE,},
year={2023},
pages={15-27},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0011755500003476},
isbn={978-989-758-645-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: ICT4AWE,
TI - Implementing an Intersectoral Telemedicine Network in Rural Areas: Evaluation from the Point of View of Telemedicine Users
SN - 978-989-758-645-3
AU - Sommer D.
AU - Wilhelm S.
AU - Ahrens D.
AU - Wahl F.
PY - 2023
SP - 15
EP - 27
DO - 10.5220/0011755500003476
PB - SciTePress