Kim TJ, Arrieta MI, Eastburn SL, Icenogle ML, Slagle M, Nuriddin AH, Brantley KM, Foreman RD, Buckner AV. Post-disaster Gulf Coast recovery using telehealth.
Telemed J E Health 2013;
19:200-10. [PMID:
23427981 PMCID:
PMC3598427 DOI:
10.1089/tmj.2012.0100]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2012] [Revised: 07/02/2012] [Accepted: 07/03/2012] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
The Gulf Coast continues to struggle with service need far outpacing available resources. Since 2005, the Regional Coordinating Center for Hurricane Response (RCC) at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, has supported telehealth solutions designed to meet high service needs (e.g., psychiatry) within primary care and other healthcare organizations. The overall RCC vision is to support autonomous, useful, and sustainable telehealth programs towards mitigating unmet disaster-related needs.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
To assess Gulf Coast telehealth experiences, we conducted semistructured interviews with both regional key informants and national organizations with Gulf Coast recovery interests. Using qualitative-descriptive analysis, interview transcripts were analyzed to identify shared development themes.
RESULTS
Thirty-eight key informants were interviewed, representing a 77.6% participation rate among organizations engaged by the RCC. Seven elements critical to telehealth success were identified: Funding, Regulatory, Workflow, Attitudes, Personnel, Technology, and Evaluation. These key informant accounts reveal shared insights with telehealth regarding successes, challenges, and recommendations.
CONCLUSIONS
The seven elements critical to telehealth success both confirm and organize development principles from a diverse collective of healthcare stakeholders. The structured nature of these insights suggests a generalizable framework upon which other organizations might develop telehealth strategies toward addressing high service needs with limited resources.
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