Socioeconomic stakes in the development of telemedicine

Abstract

This brief article points out that more empirical knowledge is required about the diverse factors that influence the diffusion, implementation, outcomes and behaviours associated with the spread of information and communication technologies (ICT). This includes the domain of telemedicine and ICT-based outpatient care. A detailed understanding of these processes and the participants involved offers the potential to illuminate the multiplicity of inter-related issues with which medical practitioners and health-care policy makers must contend. More important, it is only through such a detailed, user-centred understanding – as opposed to abstract assessments of technological potential – that we can formulate effective strategies that do not lose sight of the clinical and therapeutic aspects of health care in the quest to improve its delivery.