A web-based telemedicine system was established in the province of Trento (italy) to provide rural hospitals with a telemedicine consultation service to support treatment plans and follow-up session for cancer patients. The system is based on a multimedia digital oncology patient record available throughout the network via a dedicated Web browser. Embedded applications are integrated to duscuss the cases and to share clinical information in `virtual oncology meetings`. To evaluate the impact of the telemedicine system a questionnaire was distributed to all health professionals involved in the project (26 clinicians, 31 nurses). The questionnaire, based on open and closed response questions, investigates the use of the system users` attitudes towards the digital clinical record and teleconsultation, personal benefits perceived from the system, major problems encountered during the experimentation, system future use expectation, etc. The quantitative and qualitative results reveal benefits in communication and informagion sharing and point out mainly organizational limits rather than usage or technical performances
Evaluation of a tele-oncology service for rural hospitals
Sboner, Andrea;Demichelis, Francesca;Eccher, Claudio;Galvagni, Michele;Graiff, Antonella;Larcher, Barbara;
2001-01-01
Abstract
A web-based telemedicine system was established in the province of Trento (italy) to provide rural hospitals with a telemedicine consultation service to support treatment plans and follow-up session for cancer patients. The system is based on a multimedia digital oncology patient record available throughout the network via a dedicated Web browser. Embedded applications are integrated to duscuss the cases and to share clinical information in `virtual oncology meetings`. To evaluate the impact of the telemedicine system a questionnaire was distributed to all health professionals involved in the project (26 clinicians, 31 nurses). The questionnaire, based on open and closed response questions, investigates the use of the system users` attitudes towards the digital clinical record and teleconsultation, personal benefits perceived from the system, major problems encountered during the experimentation, system future use expectation, etc. The quantitative and qualitative results reveal benefits in communication and informagion sharing and point out mainly organizational limits rather than usage or technical performancesI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
