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- Kifle Gelan, Mengistu, 1961-
(författare)
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A Theoretical Model for Telemedicine : Social and Value Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region is faced with limited medical personnel and healthcare services to address the many healthcare problems of the region. Poor health indicators reflect the overall decline in socio-economic development. Shortages of access to health services in the region is further complicated by the concentration of health services in urban areas, the region’s multiple medical problems (over 70% of HIV/AIDS cases in the world); and the brain drain phenomenon – it is estimated one-third of African physicians emigrate to North America and Europe. The result is that the SSA region is left with about 10 physicians, and 20 beds, per 100,000 patients. Telemedicine has been found to offer socio-economic benefits, reduce costs, and improve access to healthcare service providers by patients, but previous attempts to move various information technologies from developers in the industrial world to the developing world have failed because of a clear neglect of infrastructural and cultural factors that influence such transfers. The objective of this study is to address key factors that challenge the introduction of telemedicine technology into the health sector in SSA in particular, and by extension, other developing countries with similar socio-economic structures.This research offers a distinctive perspective, focusing on visually-based clinical applications in the SSA region, and considerable attention to the national infrastructure and cultural impact of telemedicine transfer (social and value) outcomes. Two research models and its associated hypotheses are proposed and empirically tested using quantitative data collected from SSA physicians and other health professionals. The study also contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of telemedicine in improving access and reducing costs. This research can help to understand the socio-economic impact of telemedicine outcomes in a comprehensive way. The finding from the survey shows the rapid advances in telemedicine technology specifically, visual clinical applications may become an essential healthcare tool in the near future within SSA countries.
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| 2. |
- Kifle, Mengistu, et al.
(författare)
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Critical success factors for telemedicine in Ethiopia
- 2004
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Ingår i: Innovations Through Information Technology, Vols 1 and 2. - HERSHEY : IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING. - 1591402611 ; , s. 426-429
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Information and communication technology (ICT) has seen exceptional growth in the last decade in Ethiopia and Africa. Delivery of health care services is an issue for governments in most developing countries. However, service and quality depend on the availability of financial and human resources along with the organizational and management capability to transform the resources to meet national needs. This paper discusses three important enablers of telemedicine: government in the role of policy maker and facilitator; higher institutions as providers of resources and training; and foreign alliances for infusion of finances and expertise. This paper specifically discusses Ethiopia as a case study, describing the effect of these enablers in Ethiopian telemedicine.
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| 3. |
- Kifle, Mengistu, et al.
(författare)
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Interplay of cost and adoption of tele-medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa : The case of tele-cardiology in Ethiopia
- 2006
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Ingår i: Information Systems Frontiers. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-3326 .- 1572-9419. ; 8:3, s. 211-223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ...the barriers to diffusion of Tele-Medicine are not entirely technical. Cost has to simultaneously satisfy a number of stakeholders... (Anderson, Aydin and Jay, et al., 1994).Rising costs of the provision of healthcare have been a major issue for debate in both developing and developed countries. This is especially true of very capitalistic societies such as the United States where privatization of the healthcare sector has left many with little or no affordable healthcare. The situation is even worse in developing economies. Developing countries deal with various problems in the provision of health services and healthcare Tan et al. (E-medicine diffusion: E-medicine in Developed and Developing countries. Chapter 8 in E-health paradigm shift: Perspectives, domains and challenges. In Tan J. (Ed.), Imprint of Wiley, New York, Jossey-Bass, 2005). Some of these problems include acute shortages of healthcare professionals and medical facilities Mbarika et al. (Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) 2005;6(5):130-170). Such shortages have resulted in growing numbers of middle to upper-class citizens of developing countries traveling abroad to seek necessary health services. Using a multi-method case study research, this paper examines the role of Tele-Medicine in the healthcare system and analyzes the costs and benefits of introducing Tele-Cardiology services in Ethiopia (a Sub-Saharan African country). This is a cost comparison study for the treatment of cardiac patients traveling abroad versus patients treated via Tele-Cardiology. Our findings show that Tele-Cardiology is clinically more feasible and more cost effective compared to patients traveling abroad for treatment.
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| 4. |
- Kifle, Mengistu, et al.
(författare)
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Telemedicine in sub-Saharan Africa : The case of teleophthalmology and eye care in Ethiopia
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of The American Society For Information Science And Technology. - : Wiley. - 1532-2882 .- 1532-2890. ; 57:10, s. 1383-1393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The authors examine the need and adoption of teleophthalmology in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia, like most sub-Saharan African countries, is faced with limited specialists and health care services. These services are often concentrated in the urban areas, leaving most of the rural population (about 70% of the country) without adequate and timely health care delivery. In Ethiopia, the ratio of ophthalmologists to the population is 1:1,200,000, resulting in inadequate delivery of ophthalmology-related health care services. Using both primary and secondary data collection approaches, the authors report the need for telemedicine as well as the adoption and application of teleophthalmology in Ethiopia. Further, they present Ethiopia's teleophthalmology network, integrated teleconsultation, and teleeducation services. The authors conclude by presenting this research as a starting point to investigate further teleophthalmology and other telemedicine services for Ethiopia and by extension, other developing countries. Therefore, they bring a much-underresearched region (sub-Saharan Africa) and a much-underresearched technology (telemedicine) to the forefront of information systems (IS) research. It is the authors' hope that colleagues in the field will be motivated to investigate this '' forgotten '' region of the world that is yet to reap the full potentials of information and communications technologies (ICTs).
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