CAREER: Information Technology Transfer to Developing Countries: An E-Medicine Model for Sub-Saharan Africa

本研究的目的是为了更好地了解发展中国家电子医疗技术转让和采用的过程。这些远距离医疗支助技术的重要性和影响有据可查；人们不太了解的是，如何使这些措施适应国家政策、现有的基础设施、地区惯例和当地文化。该项目将纵向跟踪撒哈拉以南非洲，特别是埃塞俄比亚和卢旺达的电子医疗倡议。由此产生的技术转移模式应该为一般的电子医疗工作提供信息。远程医疗举措彻底改变了生活在传统上得不到卫生服务的偏远社区的人们的医疗保健。通过允许医务人员通过视频会议与患者互动、收集样本、运行测试和远程交换数据，他们能够提供比其他方式更及时、更高质量的服务。现在有越来越多的案例研究，记录了将这些技术应用于特定社区的成功和失败。然而，对影响这些实现的因素的理解有限。通过实地工作，本研究将审查影响撒哈拉以南非洲，特别是埃塞俄比亚和卢旺达具体远程医疗工作的各种因素（例如，国家政策、现有基础设施、区域医疗实践、当地文化）。这些地区有严重的医疗需求，对远程医疗工作的兴趣和资金正在迅速增加。这是一项为期五年的纵向研究，将得到CAREER奖的支持。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

The intent of this research is to better understand the processes of technology transfer and adoption for e-medicine in developing countries. The importance and impact of these medical-support-at-a-distance technologies are well documented; what is not well understood is how these are adapted to fit national policies, available infrastructure, regional practices, and local culture. This project will longitudinally track e-medicine initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Ethiopia and Rwanda. The resulting technology transfer models should inform e-medicine efforts in general. Telemedicine initiatives have revolutionized medical care for people who live in remote communities traditionally underserved by health services. By allowing medical staff to interact with patients via videoconferencing, collect samples, run tests, and exchange data remotely, they are able to provide a more timely, high-quality level of service than otherwise possible. There is now a growing collection of case studies, documenting the successes and failures of adapting these technologies to particular communities. However, there is limited understanding about the factors that affect these implementations. Through field work, this research will examine a variety of factors (e.g., national policies, available infrastructure, regional medical practices, local culture) that impact specific telemedicine efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Ethiopia and Rwanda. These are regions with grave medical needs where interest in and funding for telemedicine efforts is increasing rapidly. This is a five-year longitudinal study to be supported by a CAREER award. This award is co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.