Telemedicine

Although Benbasat and Zmud’s (2003) pronouncement of an “identity crisis” within the information systems (IS) discipline has been mitigated in the industrialized world, we are concerned that the crisis still looms large in the developing world. The objective of this paper is to understand how the information systems discipline can extend its social presence in developing countries to help sustain life itself. We illustrate our concern and argument with an in-depth examination of one area for which information systems research has much to offer: research into telemedicine—remote delivery of healthcare using telecommunications technologies—in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to transform the healthcare sector of this very needy society, home to 33 of the 48 least developed (poorest) countries of the world, and host to some of the world’s most serious ongoing health crises. Contrary to common thinking, socio-political nuances require a different lens to investigate IT-enabled social development in SSA.  In that vein, we propose a research framework for telemedicine transfer in the context of SSA with propositions pertinent to the developing world. This paper surfaces issues often overlooked or deemed irrelevant in developed societies in which the bulk of present information systems research has been developed. We conclude by drawing thorough implications of this research agenda as a stepping stone to recreating a social identity in developing nations plagued with more immediate concerns surrounding basic human sustenance.

Within  the  information  systems  discipline,  three streams   have   emerged   that   address   the   issue   of information  technology  adoption,  diffusion  and  use. The    first    examines    the    factors    influencing    an individual’s decision to accept a new technology. The second stream deals with the impact of culture on the development  and  use  of  information  technology;  and the  third  stream  is  directed  toward  the  transfer  of information  technology  from  one  country  or  context into another. While these three streams have attempted to   theorize   and   empirically   explain   the   factors influencing  information  technology  adoption  within  a new   environment,   they   have   largely   been   used separately  and  tested  within  the  context  of  advanced economies.  In  this  paper  we  attempt  to  integrate  all three  in  examining  the  introduction  of  telemedicine technology in medically underserved communities. The results suggest that the interaction effects of the factors derived from all theories provide a better explanation of  technology  introduction  in  medically  underserved communities.

By the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people worldwide-2.7 million under age 15-were living with HIV/AIDS. More than 70 percent of these people (28.1 million) live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Another killer, malaria, is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million children each year-2,800 per day-in Africa alone. As such statistics demonstrate, the need for medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa is paramount. Sub-Saharan Africa has fewer than 10 doctors per 100,000 people, and 14 countries do not have a single radiologist. The specialists and services that are available are concentrated in cities. This study examines the state of adoption of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa. We present several examples of successful adoption of telemedicine in the continent, provide several research implications, and propose a Delphi study to identify the critical success factors that would enable successful implementation of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa. While we do not claim that telemedicine will solve all of Sub-Saharan Africa's medical problems, we do contend that it is a starting point to reach Africans that live in areas with limited medical facilities and personnel.