Organizational Structure in Telemedicine Programs

We have been fortunate to be involved with an active, somewhat unruly telemedicine program, inching toward better ways of providing medical care. We have had the opportunity to make lots of mistakes, to compare notes with other practitioners around the country and the world, to enjoy some modest successes, and to move forward. This article is part reminiscence, part survey. We are trying to tie together the extra-technological elements that augur a successful telemedicine program. This has been harder than we thought when we first planned this article, and this issue of Telemedicine Today. Telemedicine practice, organization, staffing, and administration are very difficult to characterize, since they weave through so many fields and administrative structures: health professional staffing, information technology, hospital and clinic administration, professional education, marketing, politics, vendor relations, funding... Perhaps as hard as anything has been trying to determine what a "successful" telemedicine program is. If it survives, is it a success? If it doesn’t survive, is it a failure? Must it pay for itself? Two observers may call the same program a success or a failure, depending on their vantage and prejudices.

Lessons Learned from the Rural Telemedicine Grant Program

When asked to list and discuss their successes, over half of the grantees cited high patient and provider satisfaction with telemedicine consults. Other successes included increased utilization, increased interest in their telemedicine system, getting the telemedicine system operational, and implementation of evaluation tools.

4th Annual Program Review

Keeping tabs on telemedicine programs is like keeping track of a busload of campers at an amusement park. They seem quite manageable as they get off the bus. Then they’re off, only to reappear occasionally, then off again in a new direction. At the end of the day they return to the bus, some full of wild stories, others matter-of-fact, and others tired to the point of silence.