Abstract
Telemedicine (TM) is a term that describes the delivery of healthcare over distances. TM has evolved along with communication technology, creating a model of TM healthcare delivery that is constantly changing.
The primary advantage of TM is that it gives physicians the ability to reach out to patients remotely, providing healthcare to remote or isolated locations, thus greatly reducing the need for patient travel. The physician is the primary stakeholder of TM, but to date there is a paucity of research related to TM utilization by physicians. Specifically, it is not known whether TM is an efficient healthcare tool that allows more patients to be seen by a physician than could normally be seen face to face (F2F), hence increasing the potential volume of patient care.
This study describes the adoption and utilization characteristics within a “real” medical environment (the Ontario Ministry of Long-term Health Care) by analyzing established medical practices. Using OHIP data, this study shows TM utilization trends among physicians who were responsible for a large portion of TM patient activity within their respective specialties between 2011 and 2013. By understanding TM usage by physicians, the ministry can provide programs and incentives that may increase TM adoption, thus providing more efficient healthcare to underserviced populations in Ontario.
The top three specialties from 2008-2013 using TM in Ontario were found to be General and Family (G&F) practice, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, with G&F physicians using TM primarily to increase practice volumes for addiction medicine. Within the Internal Medicine specialty, TM appears to be a tool for healthcare delivery that helps offset some F2F events. Within the specialty of Psychiatry, many TM events seemed to have been performed by psychiatrists who have smaller volumes of F2F visits compared to their peers.
Trends in TM show that for some specialties and types of clinical events, TM can be used to see more patients than physicians could normally see when restricted to F2F visits only, thus reducing the number of F2F visits within some practices. / Thesis / Master of Health Sciences (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22745 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Khulbe, Abhaya |
| Contributors | Norm, Archer, eHealth |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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