title: A needs assessment study for the Missouri Tele-hospice Project.
abstract: Hospice care focuses on palliation and the relief of suffering aiming to improve the quality of patients' last days. Telemedicine is considered to be a tool that can address challenges such as staff shortage, funding limitations and limited access to services in rural areas. Hospice services via telemedicine can be delivered directly into a patient's home by utilizing videoconferencing technology. The Missouri Telehospice Project aims to investigate the impact of a telehospice model on satisfaction with delivered care, caregiver burden, crisis prevention rates and overall cost of delivered care. Five urban and rural hospice agencies in Missouri are participating. A needs assessment study was conducted where hospice staff members responded to a set of questions within focus group and interview sessions providing feedback about the design, type of technology, frequency of usage and perceived impact on quality of hospice care.
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Informatics - School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.
authors.forename: Debra R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demiris
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Edison
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers; D006738:Hospices; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D020380:Needs Assessment; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017216:Telemedicine