Teleconsulting: a practical account of pitfalls, problems and promise. Experience from the TEAM project group.
In Wales the Tele Education and Medicine (TEAM) project has given clinicians, in both the primary- and secondary-care sectors, practical experience in teleconsulting. From this project we have been able to identify the potential pitfalls and problems in developing and using this new technology. These problems include: using teleconsulting simply because it is fashionable; the failure to base it on the needs of the patients and the primary-care physicians; the failure to validate accuracy, acceptability and cost; the failure to adapt to new technical improvements; and the failure to scale up from a pilot project to a wider teleconsulting service. In our experience technical support is essential and is best facilitated by multisite cooperation, rather than small free-standing projects.
Freeman
K
K
Centre for Health Informatics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK.
Wynn-Jones
J
J
Groves-Phillips
S
S
Lewis
L
L
D003880:Dermatology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012423:Rural Health; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014852:Wales