This review suggests limited research providing scientifically valid and reproducible usability evaluation at various stages of telemedicine system development. Telemedicine system designers need to consider the age-related issues in cognition, perception, and behavior of geriatric patients while designing telemedicine applications. Future directions for research were developed based on the limitations as well as other results found in this systematic review.

Although this review identified life-saving benefits of telemedicine, it also showed the paucity of the scientifically sound research in its implementation, prompting further studies. Further research is needed to analyze the capabilities and challenges involved in implementing telemedicine in ambulances, especially studies focusing on human-system integration and human factors' considerations in the implementation of telemedicine systems in ambulances, the development of advanced Internet connectivity paradigms, additional applications for triaging, and the implications of ambulance location.

Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients find respite in online communities for solutions and emotional support. This study aims to understand the characteristics of information caregivers of Alzheimer's patients are searching for and the kind of support they receive through Internet-based peer support communities. Using a Web crawler written in Python Web programming language, we retrieved publicly available 2,500 random posts and their respective solutions from April 2012 to October 2016 on the solutions category of the Caregiver's Forum on ALZConnected.org . A content analysis was conducted on these randomly selected posts and 4,219 responses to those posts based on a classification system were derived from initial analyses of 750 posts and related responses. The results showed most posts (26%) related to queries about Alzheimer's symptoms, and the highest percentage of responses (45.56%) pertained to caregiver well-being. The LIWC analyses generated an average tone rating of 27.27 for the posts, implying a negative tone and 65.17 for their responses, implying a slightly positive tone. The ALZConnected.org Web site has the potential of being an emotionally supportive tool for caregivers; however, a more user-friendly interface is required to accommodate the needs of most caregivers and their technological skills. Solutions offered on the peer support groups are often subjective opinions of other caregivers and should not be considered professional or comprehensive; further research on educating caregivers using online forums is necessary.

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BackgroundTelemedicine is the use of technology to provide and support health care when distance separates the clinical service and the patient. Home-based telemedicine systems involve the use of such technology for medical support and care connecting the patient from the comfort of their homes with the clinician. In order for such a system to be used extensively, it is necessary to understand not only the issues faced by the patients in using them but also the clinician.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to conduct a heuristic evaluation of 4 telemedicine software platforms—Doxy.me, Polycom, Vidyo, and VSee—to assess possible problems and limitations that could affect the usability of the system from the clinician’s perspective.MethodsIt was found that 5 experts individually evaluated all four systems using Nielsen’s list of heuristics, classifying the issues based on a severity rating scale.ResultsA total of 46 unique problems were identified by the experts. The heuristics most frequently violated were visibility of system status and Error prevention amounting to 24% (11/46 issues) each. Esthetic and minimalist design was second contributing to 13% (6/46 issues) of the total errors.ConclusionsHeuristic evaluation coupled with a severity rating scale was found to be an effective method for identifying problems with the systems. Prioritization of these problems based on the rating provides a good starting point for resolving the issues affecting these platforms. There is a need for better transparency and a more streamlined approach for how physicians use telemedicine systems. Visibility of the system status and speaking the users’ language are keys for achieving this.