Assessing or predicting adoption of telehealth using the diffusion of innovations theory: A practical example from a rural program in New Mexico
Assessing or predicting adoption of telehealth using the diffusion of innovations theory: A practical example from a rural program in New Mexico
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DOI：
10.1089/153056203766437516
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发表时间：
2003-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Alverson, D
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Helitzer, D;Heath, D;Alverson, D
在农村大州新墨西哥州，预计远程保健将为保健服务提供带来重大价值，提高当地护理病人的能力，减少病人旅行的需要，减少职业隔离，为加强专业教育和信息共享提供途径，增加获得保健的机会，并最终改善健康状况。在对新墨西哥州远程医疗中心的农村远程医疗计划进行评估的过程中，我们使用了一种扎根理论的方法来评估采用远程医疗的障碍和成功采用的组成部分。然后，我们转向创新理论的扩散，以更好地理解远程医疗的特点和它所应用的社会系统之间的动态相互作用。在这样做的过程中，我们了解到，采用远程医疗所涉及的创新决策类型似乎在确定采用方面特别重要。在这篇文章中，我们表明，扩散理论可以是一个有用的框架，用于评估远程医疗计划。我们还建议，开发一种预测工具进行前瞻性评估将是有用的，并可以应用于新的远程医疗计划正在规划中。
In New Mexico, a large rural state, it was anticipated that telehealth would bring significant value to health care delivery, improve local capacity for patient care, decrease the need for patient travel, diminish professional isolation, provide an avenue for enhanced professional education and information sharing, increase access to care, and ultimately improve health status. During the course of an evaluation of the University of New Mexico Center for Telehealth's rural telemedicine program, we used a grounded theory approach to assess barriers to the adoption of telemedicine and components of successful adoption. We then turned to the diffusion of innovations theory to better understand the dynamic interactions between the characteristics of telehealth and the social system in which it is applied. In doing so, we learned that the type of innovation decision involved in the adoption of telehealth appears to be particularly important in determining adoption. In this article we demonstrate that diffusion theory can be a useful framework for evaluating telehealth programs. We also suggest that the development of a predictive tool for prospective assessment would be useful, and could be applied when new telehealth programs are being planned.