Advancement of telemedicine in Africa and the current laws: A case study of Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 002581722110183
Author(s):  
Amanze N Ikwu ◽  
David T Komolafe ◽  
Gladys I Ahaneku ◽  
Sixtus E Nwawudu

Advancements in technology have heralded more than a few cutting-edge benefits. Medicine is a vital sector of every nation and it has benefitted from these advancements in delivering health care services at a distance. The increasing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by a vast population worldwide has been pivotal for telemedicine in recent years. Many developed and developing countries of the world have embraced telemedicine as a proactive means of delivering health care services to their citizens, although at different rates of development. The challenges associated with health care service and delivery is numerous and telemedicine has become one solution to counter some of these challenges. This paper seeks to examine the state of telemedicine in Nigeria. It identifies the gaps that ought to be filled in the Nigerian legal system and proposes relevant policies and legislation that must be formulated by government alongside appropriate authorities in order to ensure an optimum telemedicine system that meets the standards of conventional medicine.

2011 ◽  
Vol 467-469 ◽  
pp. 1056-1065
Author(s):  
Hui Lung Hsieh ◽  
Chung Hung Tsai ◽  
Bi Kun Chuang

With the growing number of aging population and chronic illnesses, how to help elderly residents access the health care service timely is a challenge for health care institutions in Taiwan. Recent advances in information, communication and biomedical technologies have combined to allow the development of various types of telemedicine technology designed to enhance or expand the health care services of elderly residents. However, most telecare studies focused only on medical care or development of technology rather than on comprehensive evaluation of residents’ (or patients’) perception about service processes. The purpose of this study was to explore rural residents’ perceptions and usage intention of a telecare system after they have used it. Results from this exploratory study showed that most elderly people have never heard or touched telecare systems before the study was conducted. However, the general perceptions of such systems included improvement of interacting with medical staffs, safety protection, convenient care, and one needed item of services in daily life. Especially, the mostly risk perception was privacy risk, that is, data confidentiality and individual privacy. Generally, most elderly residents evaluated their telecare experiences and perceptions as being positive. Besides, most elderly resident were willing to use the telecare system without fees. However, they felt risky about confidentiality and privacy toward this technology. To improve trustworthy perception of this novel technology, telecare providers should implement appropriate safeguards to protect patient health information exchanged in a telecare setting. Also, the physicians/nurses should take the time to communicate with the residents, especially in the form of education, about the benefits of technology. To optimize the effectiveness of this promising technique, more research on the relationship between residents’ (or patients’) perceptions and influences of technology will need to be conducted continually in future.


2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda J Gabbe ◽  
Ann M Sutherland ◽  
Owen D Williamson ◽  
Peter A Cameron

To establish the use of health care services 6 months following major trauma, 243 blunt major trauma patients were recruited during their acute hospital stay and followed up by telephone interview at 6 months post-injury. Data collected at 6 months included health care service usage and their level of disability according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale ? Extended (GOSE). Ninety-four percent of patients were living in the community at 6 months, and most (69%) reported continued use of health care services. Of those with ongoing disability, non-compensable patients were significantly more likely (OR 3.7; 95% CI, 1.6?8.6) to have ceased health care service use than compensable patients, independent of injury severity.


Author(s):  
Gökçe Dağtekin ◽  
Zeynep Demirtaş ◽  
Aziz Soysal ◽  
Nilgün Yildirim ◽  
Fatih M. Önsüz ◽  
...  

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of glaucoma and their possible determinants in a group of people diagnosed with glaucoma and in a population based group without glaucoma.Methods: The study included people with an age range of 40 to 80years; 410 patients without glaucoma who admitted to primary health care service and 113 patients who admitted to hospitals with diagnosis of glaucoma. In addition to Glaucoma Knowledge Level Questionnaire (GKLQ), participants were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, level of awareness and resources of the information about glaucoma. Multivariate logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the variants which have impact on the level of the awareness about glaucoma and to evaluate the factors effective on the score of GKLQ, respectively.Results: The ratio of awareness about glaucoma was found to be 64.1% in people without glaucoma. The knowledge and awareness about glaucoma were found to be higher in glaucoma patients compared to healthy people but not at a desired level. The education level was the only factor effecting both awareness and knowledge about glaucoma.Conclusions: As awareness about glaucoma can lead to early detection, the assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma is very important in terms of disease prevention. Health education and preventive health care services should be programmed including for both glaucoma patients and healthy people based on the level of their education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 02009
Author(s):  
Daiga Behmane ◽  
Anda Batraga ◽  
Mara Greve ◽  
Didzis Rutitis

The study evaluates foreign patients' experience and satisfaction in relation to the health care received in Latvia. By applying the gap model of service evaluation, the study reveals the difference between expected and received service outcome in Latvia, and draws conclusions about the importance of individual and patient experience factors related to the overall patient satisfaction. The study concludes that in all groups of factors matrix proposed in the study: (1) general travel or destination factors; (2) communication factors; (3) factors related to the choice of service and (4) factors related to the choice of health care institution, patients evaluated the perceived health care outcome higher than the expected outcome. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that there is a significant gap in foreign patients' knowledge regarding the possibilities of receiving a high-level health care service in Latvia. The results also reveal the most important determinants of patient experience and related satisfaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 510-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaojiao Ren ◽  
Ding Ding ◽  
Qunhong Wu ◽  
Chaojie Liu ◽  
Yanhua Hao ◽  
...  

The rapidly growing aging population has attracted global attention. This study explores the associations between 3 basic health insurances, and it identifies factors associated with health care services among the elderly populations. This study is based on multistage stratified cluster sampling method from the 2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) resulting in 7589 participants. Medical Insurance for Urban Employees (MIUE) members were more likely to use inpatient health care services. Health insurance programs were associated with inpatient services usage but not outpatient services usage. There are significant disparities in medical costs and health care service usage among the 3 insurance programs. Health insurance program is only associated with inpatient care. These findings may provide some suggestions to support improvements to the Chinese health care system.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shatabdi Bagchi ◽  
Priyanka Bakhshi

Financing is the most crucial part of the of the health care service delivery system and health care finance is one of the most critical factor contributing in the poverty scenario of any country.  In developing countries like India where the health system should be more equitable and cost effective, the soaring problem of ‘out of pocket expenditure’ on Health System has shown a gloomy face and raises question on health equity. Evidences from several studies In India show that out of pocket expenditures on health care services intensify poverty.  In the World Health Survey of 2011, India was ranked 42nd in the list of countries with highest average of out of pocket expenditure. The survey found that 74.4 per cent of private expenditure on health was paid out of pocket. The article discusses the triggering factors which lead to the inequitable out of pocket health expenditure. Secondary Data from World Health Statistics 2010, NSSO 52nd and 60th round have been used here as evidence.


2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1519-1527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salime Hadad ◽  
Elisabeth França ◽  
Elizabeth Uchôa

This study used a qualitative methodology to analyze the discourse of mothers from Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, whose infant children had died from what were considered avoidable causes (diarrhea, malnutrition, and pneumonia), seeking to elucidate the factors associated with utilization of health care services. Identification of the illness by the mother was related to perception of specific alterations in the child's state of health. Analysis of the alterations helped identify the principal characteristics ascribed to each alteration and their relationship to the search for treatment. The authors also studied the mother's assessment of treatment received at health care facilities; 43.0% of the cases involved problems related to the structure of health care services or the attending health care professionals. In 46.0% of the cases, mothers associated the child's death with flaws in the health care service. The study group showed a variety of interpretations of illness, often distinct from the corresponding biomedical concepts. The fact that attending health care personnel overlooked or underrated the mother's perception of the illness and the lack of communications between health care personnel and the child's family had an influence on the child's evolution and subsequent death.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-226
Author(s):  
Vesna Leskošek ◽  
Miha Lučovnik ◽  
Lucija Pavše ◽  
Tanja Premru Sršen ◽  
Megie Krajnc ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The aim of the survey was to assess the differences in disclosure by the type of violence to better plan the role of health services in identifying and disclosing violence. Methods A validated, anonymous screening questionnaire (NorAQ) for the identification of female victims of violence was offered to all postpartum women at a single maternity unit over a three-month period in 2014. Response rate was 80% (1018 respondents). Chi square test was used for statistical analysis (p<0.05 significant). Results There are differences in disclosure by type of violence. Nearly half (41.5%) of violence by health care services was not reported, compared to 33.7% physical, 23.4% psychological, and 32.5% sexual that was reported. The percentage of violence in intimate partnership reported to health care staff is low (9.3% to 20.8%), but almost half of the violence experienced by heath care services (44%) is reported. Intimate partnership violence is more often reported to the physician than to the psychologist or social worker. Violence in health care service is reported also to nurses. Conclusions Disclosure enables various institutions to start with the procedures aimed at protecting victims against violence. Health workers should continuously encourage women to speak about violence rather than asking about it only once. It is also important that such inquiries are made on different levels of health care system and by different health care professions, since there are differences to whom women are willing to disclose violence.


2021 ◽  
pp. 875512252110211
Author(s):  
Michael A. Biddle ◽  
Kailyn K. Cleveland ◽  
Shanna K. O’Connor ◽  
Hayli Hruza ◽  
Madeline Foster ◽  
...  

Background: The role of Idaho and Alaska pharmacists in providing health care services has steadily broadened over recent years. With many new pharmacist-provided health care service possibilities, this study assessed the impact of these advancements on community pharmacies. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify current pharmacist-provided health care services and pharmacist-perceived barriers to providing and billing for these services in Idaho and Alaska community pharmacies. Methods: A questionnaire was developed focusing on 2 areas: providing services and billing for services. Pharmacy students on experiential rotations administered the questionnaires to pharmacists at their rotation sites. Pharmacists at community pharmacy practice sites in Idaho and Alaska completed the questionnaire in an interview format conducted by students. Likert-type scale data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Because the study did not include a comparator group, no power calculation was conducted. All open-response answers were analyzed independently by 2 researchers and discrepancies in coding open-ended questions were resolved by discussion with a group of 4 researchers. Results: Most pharmacists reported that they already provide non-dispensing services, desired to implement new services, and had confidence in their team’s ability to handle new services. Time and resources were the most cited barriers to providing new services; compensation, company support, and education were the most cited barriers to billing for services. Conclusions: Community pharmacists already provide non-dispensing services and many are looking to provide more services, but barriers of time, resources, compensation, company support, and education will need to be overcome to move forward.


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