Telemedicine for patient consultation: factors affecting use by rural primary-care physicians in Kansas.
The purpose of our study was to investigate knowledge of, attitudes to, and use of interactive telemedicine for specialist consultation among rural practitioners Kansas. We interviewed 28 rural primary-care practitioners at seven remote health-care facilities in six locations. Content analyses of the interviews showed universal but superficial knowledge of telemedicine, appreciation of the value of the technology, but relatively low usage of the telemedicine service available (32% of subjects). Physicians did not appear to be afraid of change. Telemedicine usage was not related to the professional characteristics of the physicians. Our findings suggest that further growth in the use of telemedicine will depend on efforts directed towards physicians which are aimed at creating a more user-friendly environment and at accommodating the referral practices of potential users.
Whitten
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Information Technology Services & Research, University of Kansas Medical Center, Lenexa 66215, USA. pwhitten@kumc.wpo.ukans.edu
Franken
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EA
D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007615:Kansas; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019114:Remote Consultation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires