Telehealth: an assessment of growth and distribution.
Telemedicine uses telecommunications technologies to deliver health care to populations located at some distance from health care providers. Telehealth is a somewhat broader term that includes non-clinical applications (such as education). This article draws on data from a nationwide survey of telehealth networks that assesses the extent and character of telemedicine activity. Although statistics point to increased utilization, the distribution of growth has been skewed toward a few applications and it is not clear that rural areas would derive substantial benefit in the absence of federal subsidy. Reported barriers to building sustainable programs often seem to reflect concerns of large hospitals and health care systems rather than constraints faced by rural organizational and individual network members. The potential role of government in addressing barriers is discussed.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA. wjg10@psu.edu
William J
WJ
Grigsby
D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000458:organization & administration; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013038:Specialization; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013686:Telemetry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States