Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries

Layal Msheik; Mohamad Barakat; Hiba Hamdar; Nour Fakih; Katrine Ibrahim; Jana Jaber

doi:10.29333/ejmds/13779

Full Text (PDF)

Layal Msheik ¹ ² , Mohamad Barakat ¹ ² , Hiba Hamdar ² , Nour Fakih ² ³ , Katrine Ibrahim ¹ ² , Jana Jaber ¹ ² ^*

More Detail

¹ Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, LEBANON² Medical Learning Skills Academy-Labanon, Beirut, LEBANON³ Lebanese American University, Beirut, LEBANON^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Telemedicine is the practice of medicine virtually, by means of newly developed technology, such as computers, phones, and videos, to provide different healthcare services including diagnosis, monitoring, and consultations, mainly for patients who cannot be physically presented in the clinics and hospitals. However, there are several obstacles, that inhibit the globally widespread diffusion of telemedicine specifically in low-income countries.

Keywords

telemedicine
challenges
low-income countries

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Perspective Article

ELECTR J MED DENT STUD, Volume 13, Issue 4, December 2023, Article No: em0107

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

Publication date: 12 Oct 2023

Article Views: 2580

Article Downloads: 6377

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Hjelm NM. Benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine. J Telemed Telecare. 2005;11(2):60-70. https://doi.org/10.1258/1357633053499886 PMid:15829049
Bashshur RL, Reardon TG, Shannon GW. Telemedicine: A new health care delivery system. Annu Rev Public Health. 2000;21:613-37. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.21.1.613 PMid:10884967
Gajarawala SN, Pelkowski JN. Telehealth benefits and barriers. J Nurse Pract. 2021;17(2):218-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.09.013 PMid:33106751 PMCid:PMC7577680
Kruse CS, Karem P, Shifflett K, Vegi L, Ravi K, Brooks M. Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review. J Telemed Telecare. 2018;24(1):4-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X16674087 PMid:29320966 PMCid:PMC5768250
Myers MR. Telemedicine: An emerging health care technology. Health Care Manag (Frederick). 2003;22(3):219-23. https://doi.org/10.1097/00126450-200307000-00005 PMid:12956223
Reis FJJ, Fernandes LG, Saragiotto BT. Telehealth in low- and middle-income countries: Bridging the gap or exposing health disparities? Health Policy Technol. 2021;10(4):100577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100577 PMid:34745854 PMCid:PMC8561751
Colbert GB, Venegas-Vera AV, Lerma EV. Utility of telemedicine in the COVID-19 era. Rev Cardiovasc Med. 2020;21(4):583-7. https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.188 PMid:33388003
Luo J, Tong L, Crotty, BH, et al. Telemedicine adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic: Gaps and inequalities. Appl Clin Inform. 2021;12(4):836-44. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-1733848 PMid:34496419 PMCid:PMC8426040
Peters GM, Kooji L, Lenferink A, van harten WH, Doggen CJM. The effect of telehealth on hospital services use: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2021;23(9):e25195. https://doi.org/10.2196/25195 PMid:34468324 PMCid:PMC8444037
Rafiq A, Merrell RC. Telemedicine for access to quality care on medical practice and continuing medical education in a global arena. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2005;25(1):34-42. https://doi.org/10.1002/chp.7 PMid:16078801
Kuwabara A, Su S, Krauss J. Utilizing digital health technologies for patient education in lifestyle medicine. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2019;14(2):137-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827619892547 PMid:32231478 PMCid:PMC7092400
Jin MX, Kim SY, Miller LJ, Behari G, Correa R. Telemedicine: Current impact on the future. Cureus. 2020;12(8):e9891. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.9891 PMid:32968557 PMCid:PMC7502422
Lewis T, Synowiec C, Lagomarsino G, Schweitzer J. E-health in low- and middle-income countries: Findings from the Center for Health Market Innovations. Bull World Health Organ. 2012;90(5):332-40. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.099820 PMid:22589566 PMCid:PMC3341696
Clifford GD. E-health in low to middle income countries. J Med Eng Technol. 2016;40(7-8):336-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/03091902.2016.1256081 PMid:27885920 PMCid:PMC5180358
Latulippe K, Hamel C, Giroux D. Social health inequalities and eHealth: A literature review with qualitative synthesis of theoretical and empirical studies. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19(4):e136. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.6731 PMid:28450271 PMCid:PMC5427250
Babatunde AO, Abdulazeez AO, Adeyemo EA, Uche-Orji CI, Saliyu AA. Telemedicine in low and middle income countries: Closing or widening the health inequalities gap? Eur J Environ Public Health. 2021;5(2):em0075. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10777
Angood PB. Telemedicine, the Internet, and world wide web: Overview, current status, and relevance to surgeons. World J Surg. 2001;25(11):1449-57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-001-0130-4 PMid:11760749
Julien HM, Eberly LA, Adusumalli S. Telemedicine and the forgotten America. Circulation. 2020;142(4):312-4. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.048535 PMid:32525712 PMCid:PMC7382527
Puustjärvi J, PuustjärviL. Practising cloud-based telemedicine in developing countries. Int J Electron Healthc. 2013;7(3):181-204. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEH.2013.057407 PMid:24191340
Edworthy SM. Telemedicine in developing countries. BMJ. 2001;323(7312):524-5. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.323.7312.524 PMid:11546681 PMCid:PMC1121115
Diaz VA, Player MS. Direct-to-patient telehealth: Opportunities and challenges. R I Med J (2013). 2020;103(1):35-7.
Bashshur RL, Shannon G, Krupinski EA, Grigsby J. Sustaining and realizing the promise of telemedicine. Telemed J E Health. 2013;19(5):339-45. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2012.0282 PMid:23289907 PMCid:PMC3632093
de Souza CHA, Morbeck RA, Steinman M, et al. Barriers and benefits in telemedicine arising between a high-technology hospital service provider and remote public healthcare units: A qualitative study in Brazil. Telemed J E Health. 2017;23(6):527-32. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2016.0158 PMid:27911667
LeRouge C, Garfield MJ. Crossing the telemedicine chasm: Have the US barriers to widespread adoption of telemedicine been significantly reduced? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013;10(12):6472-84. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10126472 PMid:24287864 PMCid:PMC3881125
Mair FS, May C, O’Donnell, C, Finch T, Sullivan F, Murray E. Factors that promote or inhibit the implementation of e-health systems: An explanatory systematic review. Bull World Health Organ. 2012;90(5):357-64. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.099424 PMid:22589569 PMCid:PMC3341692
Petersen C, DeMuro P. Legal and regulatory considerations associated with use of patient-generated health data from social media and mobile health (mHealth) devices. Appl Clin Inform. 2015;6(1):16-26. https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2014-09-R-0082 PMid:25848410 PMCid:PMC4377557

How to cite this article

Vancouver

Msheik L, Barakat M, Hamdar H, Fakih N, Ibrahim K, Jaber J. Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries. ELECTR J MED DENT STUD. 2023;13(4):em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

APA

Msheik, L., Barakat, M., Hamdar, H., Fakih, N., Ibrahim, K., & Jaber, J. (2023). Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries. Electronic Journal of Medical and Dental Studies, 13(4), em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

AMA

Msheik L, Barakat M, Hamdar H, Fakih N, Ibrahim K, Jaber J. Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries. ELECTR J MED DENT STUD. 2023;13(4), em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

Chicago

Msheik, Layal, Mohamad Barakat, Hiba Hamdar, Nour Fakih, Katrine Ibrahim, and Jana Jaber. "Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries". Electronic Journal of Medical and Dental Studies 2023 13 no. 4 (2023): em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

Harvard

Msheik, L., Barakat, M., Hamdar, H., Fakih, N., Ibrahim, K., and Jaber, J. (2023). Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries. Electronic Journal of Medical and Dental Studies, 13(4), em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779

MLA

Msheik, Layal et al. "Challenges facing telemedicine in low income countries". Electronic Journal of Medical and Dental Studies, vol. 13, no. 4, 2023, em0107. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmds/13779