“I would call them, it seems faster”. The state of Telemedicine in Scotland.

The novel Coronavirus pandemic has affected the way people interact with others and services. Online re-mote solutions have been proposed for most interactions including health care. This position paper shows that online health services are under-utilised during Covid-19, and people are often not aware of their ex-istence. Using primary health care (General Practitioners - GPs) and the Near Me and Telecare programs in Scotland as examples, we argue that improving the usability of the GP websites can make Telemedicine more accessible and increase its adoption.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Georgios Sfakakis

Emilia Sobolewska

Conference

Publication date: July 2021

Publication date (Print): July 2021

Pages: 220-225

Affiliations

[0001]School of Computing

Edinburgh Napier University

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.23

SO-VID: 05fcb4bd-d95c-438c-a609-7c450de2cd7a

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: 34th British HCI Conference

Conference acronym: HCI2021

Conference number: 34

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 20th - 21st July 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Post-pandemic HCI – Living Digitally

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2021.23

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

J. M. Kahn (2015). Virtual Visits — Confronting the Challenges of Telemedicine. The New England Journal of Medicine, 372(18), 1684-1685.
Neeltje Van den Berg, Maika Schumann, Kathleen Kraft, and Wolfgang Hoffmann. (2012). Telemedicine and telecare for older patients—A systematic review. Maturitas, 73(2), 94-114.
R. Bashshur, C. R. Doarn, J. M. Frenk, J. C. Kvedar, and J. O. Woolliscroft (2020). Telemedicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Lessons for the Future.
J. E. Hollander, and B. G. Carr (2020). Virtually perfect? Telemedicine for COVID-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(18), 1679-1681.
WHO Group Consultation on Health Telematics (1997: Geneva, Switzerland). (1998). A health telematics policy in support of WHO's Health-for-all strategy for global health development: report of the WHO Group Consultation on Health Telematics, 11-16 December, Geneva, 1997. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/63857 (Accessed July, 2020)
X. Zhou, C. L. Snoswell, L. E. Harding, M. Bambling, S. Edirippulige, X. Bai, and A. C. Smith (2020). The role of telehealth in reducing the mental health burden from COVID-19. Telemedicine and e-Health, 26(4), 377-379.
F. Lupiáñez-Villanueva, A. Devaux, J. Valverde-Albacete, F. Folkvord, C. Fauli, M. Altenhofer, ... and A. Harshfield (2019). Benchmarking deployment of eHealth among general practitioners.
M. L. Barnett, K. N. Ray, J. Souza, and A. Mehrotra (2018). Trends in telemedicine use in a large commercially insured population, 2005-2017. Jama, 320(20), 2147-2149.
D. Haluza, M. Naszay, A. Stockinger, and D. Jungwirth (2017). Digital natives versus digital immigrants: influence of online health information seeking on the doctor-patient relationship. Health communication, 32(11), 1342-1349.
A. C. Smith, E. Thomas, C. L. Snoswell, H. Haydon, A. Mehrotra, J. Clemensen, and L. J. Caffery (2020). Telehealth for global emergencies: Implications for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 1357633X20916567.
Victoria A Wade, Jaklin A Eliott, and Janet E Hiller. (2014). Clinician Acceptance is the Key Factor for Sustainable Telehealth Services. Qualitative Health Research, 24(5), 682-694.
Drobni Meskó, Gergely Bényei, and Győrffy (2017)
National Human Genome Research Institute -NIH. (2018). Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Genetic-Discrimination#gina (Accessed September, 2020)
Department of Health and Social Care. (2008). Code on genetic testing and insurance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/c ode-on-genetic-testing-and-insurance (Accessed April, 2021)
C. Scott Kruse, P. Karem, K. Shifflett, L. Vegi, K. Ravi, and M. Brooks (2018). Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review. Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 24(1), 4-12.
E. V. Estacio, R. Whittle, and J. Protheroe (2019). The digital divide: examining socio-demographic factors associated with health literacy, access and use of internet to seek health information. Journal of health psychology, 24(12), 1668-1675.
S. C. Mathews, M. J. McShea, C. L. Hanley, A. Ravitz, A. B. Labrique, and A. B. Cohen (2019). Digital health: a path to validation. NPJ digital medicine, 2(1), 1-9.
D. Shift (2015, September). Technology tipping points and societal impact. In World Economic Forum Survey Report, available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC15_Technological_Tippin g_Points_report_2015.pdf (Accessed 20.08. 2018).
Digital Office Scotland. (2017). Digital Telecare. https://www.digitaloffice.scot (Accessed May, 2020)
British Telecom. (2018). We are updating our home network.
NHS Near Me. (15, May 2020). Using Near Me - paediatrics. [video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RxRKGxLDaU (Accessed July, 2020)
R. Van der Vaart, and C. Drossaert (2017). Development of the digital health literacy instrument: measuring a broad spectrum of health 1.0 and health 2.0 skills. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(1), e27.
J. Brooke (1996). SUS: a “Quick and dirty usability. Usability evaluation in industry, 189.
J. Nielsen (2014). Usability heuristics for user interface design.
W3C. (2008) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211 (Accessed May, 2020)
Mark G Friedman, and Diane Nelson Bryen. (2008). Web accessibility design recommendations for people with cognitive disabilities. Technology and Disability, 19(4), 205-212.
R. J. Hodes, and D. A. Lindberg (2002). Making your website senior friendly. National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine.
J. Benedek, and T. Miner (2002). Measuring Desirability: New methods for evaluating desirability in a usability lab setting. Proceedings of Usability Professionals Association, 2003(8-12), 57
J. Portnoy, M. Waller, and T. Elliott (2020). Telemedicine in the Era of COVID-19. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 8(5), 1489-1491.
R. Ohannessian, T. A. Duong, and A. Odone (2020). Global telemedicine implementation and integration within health systems to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: a call to action. JMIR public health and surveillance, 6(2), e18810.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] J. M. Kahn (2015). Virtual Visits — Confronting the Challenges of Telemedicine. The New England Journal of Medicine, 372(18), 1684-1685.

[2] Neeltje Van den Berg, Maika Schumann, Kathleen Kraft, and Wolfgang Hoffmann. (2012). Telemedicine and telecare for older patients—A systematic review. Maturitas, 73(2), 94-114.

[3] R. Bashshur, C. R. Doarn, J. M. Frenk, J. C. Kvedar, and J. O. Woolliscroft (2020). Telemedicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Lessons for the Future.

[4] J. E. Hollander, and B. G. Carr (2020). Virtually perfect? Telemedicine for COVID-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(18), 1679-1681.

[5] WHO Group Consultation on Health Telematics (1997: Geneva, Switzerland). (1998). A health telematics policy in support of WHO's Health-for-all strategy for global health development: report of the WHO Group Consultation on Health Telematics, 11-16 December, Geneva, 1997. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/63857 (Accessed July, 2020)

[6] X. Zhou, C. L. Snoswell, L. E. Harding, M. Bambling, S. Edirippulige, X. Bai, and A. C. Smith (2020). The role of telehealth in reducing the mental health burden from COVID-19. Telemedicine and e-Health, 26(4), 377-379.

[7] F. Lupiáñez-Villanueva, A. Devaux, J. Valverde-Albacete, F. Folkvord, C. Fauli, M. Altenhofer, ... and A. Harshfield (2019). Benchmarking deployment of eHealth among general practitioners.

[8] M. L. Barnett, K. N. Ray, J. Souza, and A. Mehrotra (2018). Trends in telemedicine use in a large commercially insured population, 2005-2017. Jama, 320(20), 2147-2149.

[9] D. Haluza, M. Naszay, A. Stockinger, and D. Jungwirth (2017). Digital natives versus digital immigrants: influence of online health information seeking on the doctor-patient relationship. Health communication, 32(11), 1342-1349.

[10] A. C. Smith, E. Thomas, C. L. Snoswell, H. Haydon, A. Mehrotra, J. Clemensen, and L. J. Caffery (2020). Telehealth for global emergencies: Implications for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 1357633X20916567.

[11] Victoria A Wade, Jaklin A Eliott, and Janet E Hiller. (2014). Clinician Acceptance is the Key Factor for Sustainable Telehealth Services. Qualitative Health Research, 24(5), 682-694.

[12] Drobni Meskó, Gergely Bényei, and Győrffy (2017)

[13] National Human Genome Research Institute -NIH. (2018). Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Genetic-Discrimination#gina (Accessed September, 2020)

[14] Department of Health and Social Care. (2008). Code on genetic testing and insurance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/c ode-on-genetic-testing-and-insurance (Accessed April, 2021)

[15] C. Scott Kruse, P. Karem, K. Shifflett, L. Vegi, K. Ravi, and M. Brooks (2018). Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review. Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 24(1), 4-12.

[16] E. V. Estacio, R. Whittle, and J. Protheroe (2019). The digital divide: examining socio-demographic factors associated with health literacy, access and use of internet to seek health information. Journal of health psychology, 24(12), 1668-1675.

[17] S. C. Mathews, M. J. McShea, C. L. Hanley, A. Ravitz, A. B. Labrique, and A. B. Cohen (2019). Digital health: a path to validation. NPJ digital medicine, 2(1), 1-9.

[18] D. Shift (2015, September). Technology tipping points and societal impact. In World Economic Forum Survey Report, available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC15_Technological_Tippin g_Points_report_2015.pdf (Accessed 20.08. 2018).

[19] Digital Office Scotland. (2017). Digital Telecare. https://www.digitaloffice.scot (Accessed May, 2020)

[20] British Telecom. (2018). We are updating our home network.

[21] NHS Near Me. (15, May 2020). Using Near Me - paediatrics. [video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RxRKGxLDaU (Accessed July, 2020)

[22] R. Van der Vaart, and C. Drossaert (2017). Development of the digital health literacy instrument: measuring a broad spectrum of health 1.0 and health 2.0 skills. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(1), e27.

[23] J. Brooke (1996). SUS: a “Quick and dirty usability. Usability evaluation in industry, 189.

[24] J. Nielsen (2014). Usability heuristics for user interface design.

[25] W3C. (2008) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211 (Accessed May, 2020)

[26] Mark G Friedman, and Diane Nelson Bryen. (2008). Web accessibility design recommendations for people with cognitive disabilities. Technology and Disability, 19(4), 205-212.

[27] R. J. Hodes, and D. A. Lindberg (2002). Making your website senior friendly. National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine.

[28] J. Benedek, and T. Miner (2002). Measuring Desirability: New methods for evaluating desirability in a usability lab setting. Proceedings of Usability Professionals Association, 2003(8-12), 57

[29] J. Portnoy, M. Waller, and T. Elliott (2020). Telemedicine in the Era of COVID-19. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 8(5), 1489-1491.

[30] R. Ohannessian, T. A. Duong, and A. Odone (2020). Global telemedicine implementation and integration within health systems to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: a call to action. JMIR public health and surveillance, 6(2), e18810.

Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65