More than a process-automating tool, telemedicine is increasingly recognized for its ability to facilitate collaboration and knowledge creation between disparate healthcare providers. As trust is being demonstrated to affect positively the collaborative effort of practitioners and the concomitant, as well as subsequent impact on quality of health care delivery [1], the questions arise, What are the interpersonal traits of practitioners that contribute to a constructive and continuing telemedicine-centered collaboration? Furthermore, how do these interpersonal traits translate into specific types of interactions that maximize telecollaboration? These questions are especially germane as much telemedicine equipment remains underutilized, and administrators concern themselves with sustainability. Previous work has largely centered on relational variables affecting trust in collaboration, such as competence, reputation, and trustworthiness, but has neglected the personal characteristics th...
Houghton G. Brown, Marshall Scott Poole, Thomas Le