Can telemedicine be used to promote sexual health?

Abstract

Telemedicine refers to the delivery of health care and sharing of medical knowledge over a distance 1 and is increasingly being applied to solve problems of access to a wide range of healthcare specialists, particularly in rural and remote regions. Use of the telephone and ship-to-shore radio for medical purposes are well-established examples of telemedicine. Recent developments in digital communications and cheap computer technology have brought interactive video and the Internet to the medical desktop, thus facilitating the possibility of telemedicine where once it would have been impractical 2,3 .The widespread adoption of this technique has been slow for various reasons, including discomfort with the technology, inability (unwillingness) to alter clinical practice patterns and cost 1 . The clinicaland cost-effectiveness of many new telemedicine applications has also yet to be properly investigated 4,5 . Nevertheless, studies con® rm high levels of satisfaction amongst healthcare staff and patients with telemedicine services for dermatology, neurology, surgery, colposcopy and psychiatry 6± 10 . However, it is also true that such services have proved more popular with patients than with healthcare staff, since usually the direct bene® ts of telemedicine accrue to the patient.In telemedicine, as in other IT-related sectors, equipment costs have declined more than 5-fold in a decade and the equipment also has more capabilities 1 . Furthermore, adding non-clinical uses like educational programmes and administrative meetings to the application of telemedicine has been suggested to foster networks and generate referrals 11 . In Australia, telemedicine services for psychiatry, renal dialysis, ophthalmology and dermatology 12± 15 are well established for clinical consultations, education and staff development including links with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (see http://www.¯ying doctorqueensland.net/).Telemedicine therefore has demonstrated its utility in a wide range of clinical applications.

Audit of a sexual health website email link for general practitioners

“…5 Discomfort with the technology, cost, time added to existing workload, patient privacy and unwillingness to alter clinical practice have been cited as contributing factors to widespread adoption of various telemedicine services. 5,6 As well, there may not be a perceived direct benefit, as there is for patients accessing web-based technology. 6…”

“…5,6 As well, there may not be a perceived direct benefit, as there is for patients accessing web-based technology. 6…”

“…Other forms of telemedicine, including interactive video, have been used to link remote far west New South Wales with a major inner-city sexual health clinic. 6…”

Creating a Sexually Transmitted Infection Disease Intervention Workforce for the 21st Century

“…29 After minimal uptake over the years, advances in telehealth, or remote health care, started at the beginning of the century. 30 Telehealth adoption has grown and has included sexual health and STI. For instance, one study used telehealth via video conferencing to show MSM how to collect specimens and then to deliver STI test results to the participants.…”

Improving care quality with prison telemedicine: The effects of context and multiplicity on successful implementation and use

“…The USA is by far the most prolific publisher of literature on prison telemedicine (n=113), consistently documenting its experiences with telemedicine since 1995(25-27) (Figure 2, Supplementary Figure 1). Indeed it was not until 2001 that any other country published in this topic area, when Australia entered the domain (28) and continued to become the second most highly published country in this field (n=11). (6,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37) Both countries are geographically extensive, making telemedicine an attractive option both for healthcare professionals to avoid long-distance travel, and for prisons to reduce high cost, long-distance inmate transfer.…”