A model of the factors that influence the implementation of a telemedicine solution in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, urban hospitals offer specialized healthcare services, while rural hospitals have limited services and normally offer only basic hospital facilities. Therefore people in rural areas have to travel relatively long distances to urban hospitals which offer specialized healthcare. This is expensive, while the poor transportation systems in rural areas make travel to urban hospitals time-consuming often involve an overnight stay.The aim of this research is to improve access to healthcare by adopting telemedicine in rural areas where the patient and the clinician in the rural hospital can contact the consultant in the urban hospital using audio, video and data communication methods for specialized healthcare services.The methods used were questionnaires and interviews in the exploratory study, which had small number of participants (83) covering three regions, followed by the main survey which had large number of participants (225) and ten regions. A model for adoption of a telemedicine system in Sri Lanka was developed from the analysis of the literature and the exploratory study. The exploratory study was conducted in three districts of Sri Lanka involving clinicians, hospital staff and the general public from both rural and urban areas, and Health Ministry officials, medical directors and consultants. The major study was conducted in ten districts and on two islands of Sri Lanka to identify the factors in the model which influenced the adoption of telemedicine.The findings of the main survey clearly indicate how important the telemedicine solution is to the rural population. The results also show that hospital staff and the general public were very much in favour of adopting telemedicine. The results also indicate that both clinicians and hospital staff believe that staff involvement, and introducing new policies and standards, will influence the adoption of telemedicine. Clinicians believe that Internet connectivity and the equipment used will not have an effect on introducing telemedicine.This model will be beneficial when implementing a telemedicine system into rural areas of Sri Lanka, which will provide patients with access to specialized healthcare services