Telehealth technologies are advancing quickly, but their ability to improve access to healthcare depends on a wide range of enabling factors, including communications infrastructure, skills, regulation and culture, according to new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report finds that global telehealth success is largely dependent upon system integration to ensure that new telehealth systems work seamlessly with those already in place, to avoid medical specialties having ‘one-off’ solutions.
The report titled Enabling telehealth: Lessons for the Gulf, sponsored by Philips, examines telehealth in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and identifies principles applicable to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a region embarking on wide-ranging healthcare reforms to deal with a rise in chronic disease.
Other key findings of the report include:
The report finds that, while telehealth can enable providers to work with patients anywhere, they often need multiple licenses to operate in different states or countries. Where governance standards converge, regulatory bodies could trust more in the licensing decisions of neighbouring authorities, creating ‘portable’ licenses that allow patient-provider communications across borders. Governments also need to clarify reimbursement policies and decide how telehealth should fit into existing insurance schemes.
A second access factor is organisational unity. In some institutions, different departments are developing ‘one-off’ telehealth solutions. A joined-up strategy would better ensure new technologies are embedded in broader organisational structures, to avoid silos.
Thirdly, the digital divide persists even in developed economies. Access to internet and mobile, in terms of network coverage and user skills, is unequal – especially in rural regions and among vulnerable populations such as the disabled and the elderly. Without improved communications infrastructure and training for these groups, new technologies may mirror existing health access inequities. Governments and providers must also note cultural nuances that may influence data sharing. For personal or religious reasons, some patients prefer not to share digital body imagery over the Internet, for instance.
“Telehealth technologies are advancing quickly, but the tools themselves are only part of the story. A wider range of factors will shape access to telehealth such as regulatory harmonisation, communications infrastructures, skills, and social sensitivities,” says Adam Green, editor of the report.
“The Gulf region has a major challenge on its hands due to the rise in non-communicable disease. It is worth looking to the experiences of other early movers around the world to emulate their successes and avoid their mistakes. In particular, while the Gulf region benefits from a generally high income level with strong rates of ICT penetration, it has limited experience of regional healthcare regulation and policy harmonisation, and suffers from a skills shortage”.
For more information about this report, read Enabling telehealth: Lessons for the Gulf here
