Methodological Considerations in a Human Factors Assessment of a Teledermatology System

Abstract

The U.S. military has initiated several telemedicine programs ranging from teledermatology to telemental health. Several advantages of telemedicine programs have been documented including increased patient satisfaction and decreased healthcare costs. However, not all telemedicine programs in the military have been successful (i.e., widely used). This analysis used multiple methods to identify the human factors issues involved in using a teledermatology system. The methods included task analyses, decision-action diagrams, and a questionnaire distributed to subject matter experts (SMEs). In a progressive fashion, each method contributed to development of the next method. Task analyses guided the development of decision-action diagrams. Decision-action diagrams identified critical human factors issues within the system and led to the development of questionnaire items specifically targeting those areas (e.g., workload, errors). The results from this assessment demonstrate how multiple methods can be used to analyze a system, identify human factors issues, and suggest interventions.