Embedded Files
Page 6
This could increase the morbidity or mortality of patients and the liability of health-care providers as well. In order to over come these challenges telemedicine must be regulated by definitive and comprehensive guidelines, which are applied widely, ideally worldwide . Concurrently, legislation governing confidentiality, privacy, access, and liability needs to be instituted. As public and private sectors engage in closer collaboration and become increasingly interdependent in eHealth applications, care must be taken to ensure that telemedicine will be deployed intelligently to maximize health services and optimal quality and guarantee that for-profit endeavours do not deprive citizens access to fundamental public health services. In all countries, issues pertaining to confidentiality, dignity, and privacy are of ethical concern with respect to the use of ICTs in telemedicine. It is imperative that telemedicine be implemented equitably and to the highest ethical standards, to maintain the dignity of all individuals and ensure that differences in education, language, geographic location, physical and mental ability, age, and sex will not lead to marginalization of care.
Telemedicine in developing countries: A review of the literature
A systematic review of the literature was conducted to illuminate the current state of telemedicine in developing countries. Identified for review were studies that reported on patient outcomes, research and evaluation processes, education outcomes, and economic assessments. Literature review methodology. Study inclusion criteria Clinical studies, feasibility studies, and review articles were considered for inclusion, based on the criteria outlined below. Participants: the review included health-care practitioners from any medical discipline using telemedicine to treat patients in developing countries, and patients in developing countries receiving care through telemedicine, regardless of the origin of the service. Interventions: the review included studies examining any form of telemedicine application developed for, or involving developing countries. Outcomes: studies were included if they examined patient outcomes (including access to health care services and quality of health care), research and evaluation processes, or the education of health-care providers. Publication date: literature considered eligible for inclusion and critical appraisal was restricted to studies published from January 1999 onwards. Language: studies included were restricted to those published in English. TELEMEDICINE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Study exclusion criteria The review excluded studies which examined technical specifications (e.g. broadband requirements) of information and communications technologies used in telemedicine, and studies in which the primary purpose of telecommunications technology use was for administration, or was not linked to education or patient outcomes. The review also excluded studies that focused on mobile phones, personal digital assistants, remote patient monitoring devices, and other wireless devices to avoid duplication with the GOe report on mHealth to be published as a part of this eHealth series. Literature search strategy The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases were searched from January 1999 to January 2010 using the following search terms: ‘telemedicine’, ‘developing countries’ (medical subject heading terms); and ‘telemedicine’, ‘tele*medicine’, ‘telehealth’, ‘tele*health’, ‘developing country*’, ‘developing world’.
Google Sites
Report abuse