Video-conferencing: under-used by rural general practitioners.

Full Abstract

The objective was to investigate the use of and value General Practitioners place on video-conferencing as a tool in providing rural health care. The participants were 8 rural general practitioners in rural Victoria towns. I found that six out of the eight GPs did not value video-conferencing as a tool to assist with patient care, and the other two GPs were interested in the technology only for certain aspects of support with patient consultations and continuing education. In conclude that there needs to be a review of whether video-conferencing equipment should continue to be implemented in the same way that it has been so far in Victoria, and of the cost-effectiveness of providing video-conferencing facilities in rural health services. In particular, there needs to be a review of whether more training and support for rural general practitioners is needed to increase the uptake of video-conferencing. Alternatively, analysis can be undertaken of the intrinsic value of using video-conferencing as an interactive tool for obtaining specialist support for patient care or undertaking continuing education via video-conferencing, and the program discontinued if it is found to be unwarranted.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Robinson, Anske (A);

Affiliation: Monash University School of Rural Health.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association (Aust Health Rev), published in Australia. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-; vol 25 (issue 6) : pp 131-5

Dates: Created 2003/01/22; Completed 2003/02/20; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 12536872, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Humans
Interviews as Topic
Physicians, Family - psychology
Remote Consultation - utilization
Rural Health Services - organization & administration
Victoria

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.