TITLE:
Can Video Conferencing Be as Easy as Telephoning?—A Home Healthcare Case Study
AUTHORS:
Alan Taylor, Greg Morris, Jennifer Tieman, David Currow, Michael Kidd, Colin Carati
KEYWORDS:
Telehealth, Home Care, Video Conferencing, Standards, Interoperability
JOURNAL NAME:
E-Health Telecommunication Systems and Networks,
Vol.5 No.1,
March
10,
2016
ABSTRACT: In comparison with almost universal adoption of telephony and mobile
technologies in modern day healthcare, video conferencing has yet to become a
ubiquitous clinical tool. Currently telehealth services are faced with a
bewildering range of video conferencing software and hardware choices. This
paper provides a case study in the selection of video conferencing services by
the Flinders University Telehealth in the Home trial (FTH Trial) to support
healthcare in the home. Using pragmatic methods, video conferencing solutions
available on the market were assessed for usability, reliability, cost,
compatibility, interoperability, performance and privacy considerations. The
process of elimination through which the eventual solution was chosen, the
selection criteria used for each requirement and the corresponding results are
described. The resulting product set, although functional, had restricted
ability to directly connect with systems used by healthcare providers elsewhere
in the system. This outcome illustrates the impact on one small telehealth
provider of the broader struggles between competing video conferencing vendors.
At stake is the ability to communicate between healthcare organizations and
provide public access to healthcare. Comparison of the current state of the
video conferencing market place with the evolution of the telephony system
reveals that video conferencing still has a long way to go before it can be considered
as easy to use as the telephone. Health organizations that are concerned to
improve access and quality of care should seek to influence greater
standardization and interoperability though cooperation with one another, the
private sector, international organizations and by encouraging governments to
play a more active role in this sphere.