Norris (2002) claims that healthcare organizations around the world are facing the same challenges, some of which include: aging populations, the rising cost of medical technology, and patient demand for quality care, all of which increase the cost of healthcare for governments and decrease the equitable accessibility to healthcare services for patients. As a way to proactively address these issues health informatics technologies are seen as "vital elements in this drive for efficiency and effectiveness and the key challenge and opportunity for policy makers and healthcare professionals is to harness information to balance demands and costs" (p. 205). As a research area, health informatics aims to "develop and improve the organization and management …show more content…
and improved information flow" (Kaplan &Litwcka, 2008, p. 402; Debakey, 1995). DeBakey states that, "Having now come to age, telemedicine has the potential of having a greater impact on the future of medicine than any other modality" (p.4). Research has also uncovered possible negative consequences of the increasing use of telemedicine which can range from a personal disconnect between clinicians and patients, changing roles of health professionals, disparities in health accessibility due to digital divides, and ethical issues in terms of informed consent in being forced to use telemedicine when patients may not be comfortable doing so (Kaplan &Litweka; Bauer, 2009). These benefits and challenges have gripped the debate around personilising and delivering health information through a channel that is available and reliable for seamless access to information -however, as healthcare advances through the evolution of health informatics technology, the integration of technology in healthcare is irrevocable and the only way to overcome these issues is to understand technology's role within health and evaluate the usage of such modalities to ensure its correct and optimal use …show more content…
However, researchers have neglected to fully explore the tangible benefits of telemedicine. In a recent systematic review of telemedicine benefits, Roine, Ohinmaa, and Hailey (2001) found that there is a lack of research focused on the overall benefits of telemedicine. Rather, there are many articles that have explored single pilot telemedicine projects, like Dunn et al. (1977), and the outcomes are only short-term and specific to the context. In this Information Age, health care is being shifted, from hospital-based acute care to prevention, promotion of wellness, and maintenance of function in community and home-based facilities. Telemedicine, a method of health care which is carried out at a distance, can facilitate this shift (Jones, 1997). Another definition of telemedicine is given by Preston et al. (1992) as: ‘Telecommunication that connects a patient and a healthcare provider through live two-way audio, two way video transmission across distances and that permits effective diagnosis, treatment and other healthcare activities’. According to Thrall et al. (1998) the recent developments and improvements in technology and telecommunications have resulted in renewed and earnest interest in telemedicine. Also transmission of knowledge in the form of distances education is included in the concept of telemedicine (Nymo,