In telemedicine and telehealth, the perception of success is complex, varies according to time and context, and depends on the perspective of the observer. Several reviews of the evaluation literature have been undertaken in recent years. These reviews identify common methodological shortcomings. Telehealth services continue to be funded as short-term projects. While it is essential to address methodology issues, it is important to understand that studies of pilot projects provide only interim findings about the feasibility of such applications, not how well they operate as mature applications. This represents something of a conundrum: evaluation is expected to establish the long-term value of telehealth using criteria which are specific to short-term projects. A useful approach would be to develop frameworks enabling all similar studies (e.g. diabetic home care) to be examined in order to extract commonalities and differences. This would enable us to draw conclusions about where telehealth is effective, as well as what variables demonstrate 'success'.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Medical and Health Sciences
Research Group:	Public Health and Health Services
Research Field:	Health Information Systems (incl. Surveillance)
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Specific Population Health (excl. Indigenous Health)
Objective Field:	Rural Health
UTAS Author:	Whetton, SG (Dr Sue Whetton)
ID Code:	36866
Year Published:	2005
Web of Science® Times Cited:	6
Deposited By:	Centre for Rural Health
Deposited On:	2005-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-11-17
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