Telemedicine: An Inquiry in the Economic and Social Dynamics of Communications Technologies in the Medical Field

The health care industry in the United States has been experiencing substantial and ever increasing cost pressures. At the same time, many forces are revolutionizing the way health care is financed and delivered. Telemedicine, in this respect, offers significant potential for addressing some of the challenges faced by the health care industry. However, despite the fact that Telemedicine technology has existed since the 1920s, the use of Telemedicine has not been widespread. The use of the diffusion of innovation theory as an organizing framework, coupled with results of a survey of telemedicine professionals at the Global Telemedicine 2000 Conference in Chicago in 1996, identifies telemedicine’s potential as well as the barriers that are impeding its wide-spread application. In general, Telemedicine’s ability to provide greater and more extensive health-care at lower costs is being hampered by social constraints in society, including i) low compatibility with existing medical prac...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: WEBNET
• Authors: Francis Pereira, Elizabeth Fife, Antonio A. Schuh
• Keywords: Health Care, Health Care Industry, Telemedicine, WEBNET 1997, WEBNET 2001