Telehealth is a promising prospect in the healthcare sector. With Telehealth, it will be possible to offer specialized hospitals even in hospitals that are in remote areas. Despite Telehealth promising to improve access of healthcare services, the adoption rate has been very low. The low adoption rate can be attributed to various factors as this discussion will show.
The first reason for low adoption rate is lack of the relevant infrastructure. Telehealth can only function if there exists the relevant infrastructural framework which include, reliable internet, computers among other things. Government needs to spend more on setting up the relevant infrastructure in order to increase the adoption rate of Telehealth.
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Another challenge that is affecting the adoption of Telehealth is lack of digital literacy among health care providers. Most health care workers lack digital literacy that would enable them to integrate Telehealth into practice (Scott Kruse et al., 2016). Health workers should be trained on the use of Telehealth equipment in order to increase the adoption rates.
The attitude of health workers towards Telehealth has affected the adoption rates of this innovation. Most health care workers are keen on continuing with the traditional method of seeing patients face to face (Scott Kruse et al., 2016). Their reluctance to adopt the new technology and integrate it into their practice can also be used to explain the low adoption rates.
Strict licensing requirements is also another factor that has significantly affected the adoption of Telehealth. Due to the sensitive nature of health data, the licensing requirements before one is allowed to use Telehealth are quite strict and laborious to attain and this has pushed away health care workers from the technology (Scott Kruse et al., 2016). Until the licensing requirements are relaxed, most health care workers will continue to shy away from the technology and this will continue affecting the adoption rates of this noble technology.
Reference
Scott Kruse, C., Karem, P., Shifflett, K., Vegi, L., Ravi, K., & Brooks, M. (2016). Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare , 24 (1), 4-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633x16674087
