Sundin Phillip, Callan Jonathan, Mehta Khanjan
a The Pennsylvania State University , University Park , PA , USA.
b Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program, Engineering Design , University Park , PA , USA.
J Med Eng Technol. 2016 Oct-Nov;40(7-8):444-457. doi: 10.1080/03091902.2016.1213901. Epub 2016 Aug 9.
Telemedicine is an increasingly common approach to improve healthcare access in developing countries with fledgling healthcare systems. Despite the strong financial, logistical and clinical support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government ministries and private actors alike, the majority of telemedicine projects do not survive beyond the initial pilot phase and achieve their full potential. Based on a review of 35 entrepreneurial telemedicine and mHealth ventures, and 17 reports that analyse their operations and challenges, this article provides a narrative review of recurring failure modes, i.e. factors that lead to failure of such venture pilots. Real-world examples of successful and failed ventures are examined for key take-away messages and practical strategies for creating commercial viable telemedicine operations. A better understanding of these failure modes can inform the design of sustainable and scalable telemedicine systems that effectively address the growing healthcare disparities in developing countries.
远程医疗是发展中国家改善医疗服务可及性的一种日益常见的方法，这些国家的医疗体系尚不完善。尽管得到了非政府组织、政府部门和私人机构等在资金、后勤和临床方面的大力支持，但大多数远程医疗项目在初始试点阶段之后便难以为继，无法充分发挥其潜力。基于对35个创业型远程医疗和移动医疗企业的审查，以及17份分析其运营和挑战的报告，本文对反复出现的失败模式进行了叙述性综述，即导致此类企业试点失败的因素。通过研究成功和失败企业的实际案例，获取关键信息以及创建具有商业可行性的远程医疗运营的实用策略。更好地理解这些失败模式可为设计可持续且可扩展的远程医疗系统提供参考，从而有效解决发展中国家日益扩大的医疗差距问题。
