A Research on the Medical Professionals’ Resistance of Telemedicine: Utilizing the Delphi Study

Abstract

Background: The constructions of the infrastructure for information and communication technology (ICT) and a universal health insurance system are necessary for a smooth execution of telemedicine. However, despite the fulfilment of such necessary conditions, there are situations where the telemedicine still fails to settle as a system due to low receptivity of stakeholders.

Introduction: This study plans to first analyse the stakeholders’ resistance to an organisation’s implementation of telemedicine. By focusing on the medical professionals’ interests, we aim to propose a strategy to minimise their conflicts and improve their acceptance.

Materials and methods: The Delphi study was carried out on 190 telemedicine professionals, whom have been recommended by 480 telemedicine-related personnel in South Korea.

Results: Out of 190 professionals, 60% of enrolled participants completed the final questionnaires. The stakeholders were categorised into groups including policy making officials, medical professionals, patients and industrialists. Amongst these, the majority of the medical professionals opposed to the execution of telemedicine. The main causes of such opposition were found to be the lack of medical delivery system and the threat of disruption of the primary care units. The consensus amongst stakeholders revealed low and in order to facilitate the smooth agreements, each expert presented the similar conditions such as the financial support by the government and the guarantee of medical autonomy.

Conclusion: The analysis of the causes of the resistance of telemedicine, extracted from the concerned parties, has important implications for the policy-makers to derive strategies for an appropriate consensus.

Keywords: telemedicine, medical professionals’ resistance, Delphi study, stakeholders, strategy