System issues for telemedicine systems

Abstract

This paper extends the discussion introduced at SHIMR 2000 regarding principal issues that influence the technical aspects of systems. It sets out how some of these issues, or ‘ilities’, apply to telemedicine systems used to support home monitoring. Although most of us know broadly what is meant by the various terms used to described provision of care at a distance, this paper also introduces a taxonomy of the various telemedicine systems which is used to assess the degree to which these ilities apply to the different telemedicine implementations. The reason for this is that not all ilities apply in equal measure to all telemedicine solutions. The paper looks at the degree to which the ilities apply to systems used to support home monitoring. In the same manner as the previous paper [1], it aims to aid understanding by proposing the questions that need to be asked and answered and so aid the design and development of successful telemedicine solutions.