Barriers to Telemedicine Uptake in Australia

Running head: AUSTRALIAN TELEMEDICINE UPTAKE BARRIERS 1
TELEMEDICINE BARRIERS UPTAKE IN AUSTRALIA
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AUSTRALIAN TELEMEDICINE UPTAKE BARRIERS 2
Introduction
Telemedicine refers to the remote delivery of services which are related to healthcare via
the telecommunications infrastructure (Hassibian & Hassibian, 2016). Such healthcare services
delivered include consultations and assessments related to health among others. Telemedicine
enables the healthcare experts to treat patients after evaluation and diagnosis by use of a common
technology without an in-person visit or rather physical presence by use of smart-phones and
video conferencing among other advanced technologies. This report will analyze various barriers
to telemedicine uptake in Australia and suggest ways in which they can be addressed to improve
healthcare access in Australia. Healthier population maintenance is among the top goals in every
nation.
Discussion
Healthcare service delivery by use of advanced technology has been the major issue of
concern in Australia for a long period of time not only in Australia but also in various nations
around the world. Telemedicine enables the provision of healthcare services cheaply by use of
various technologies as mentioned previously such as telephones, video conferencing, email and
facsimile among others. Telemedicine uptake in Australia has faced various barriers which
hinder its adoption in various parts of Australia. Some of these barriers include inadequate
funding and time, poor infrastructure, inadequate equipment skills and the traditional approach
preference (Bradford, Caffery & Smith, 2016).
Inadequate Funding and Time
Telemedicine uptake has been faced with the barrier of inadequate funding and time not
only in Australia but in other parts of the world. Doctors especially the GPs and other health

AUSTRALIAN TELEMEDICINE UPTAKE BARRIERS 3
experts with whom they work with are not funded in order to conduct consultations related to
telemedicine. Telemedicine staffs in various Australian remote sites are not provided with
financial incentives and this makes telemedicine less cost-effective towards the providers
(doctors) side (Wade, Soar & Gray, 2014). In Australia, Medicare does not remunerate
consultations of telemedicine. Also, telemedicine involves many tasks and hence it becomes
costly towards the practitioner as more time is involved on top of the absence of remuneration.
For example, considering the teledermatology consultation, it can take approximately close to 30
minutes centrally to the traditionally allowed consultation time. The extra time is taken may be
hard to be paid to the practitioner. Therefore, lack of remuneration and time towards
telemedicine experts has been a barrier towards telemedicine uptake in Australia.
Inadequate Equipment Skills
In Australia, technology is advancing at a fast pace. This calls for a necessary adjustment
in various Australian sectors inclusive of the telemedicine sector. It has been hard for many
telemedicine practitioners to adjust to the use of various equipment in their field with technology
advancement (Jang-Jaccard et al, 2014). For example, some are unable to effectively use the X-
ray equipment to produce a clarified X-ray image for better assessment. This may lead to
misunderstandings among practitioners in various remote sites or rather different locations
within Australia. Some doctors in Australian rural areas have inadequate information technology
skills due to inadequate training and this has contributed much towards the barriers to
telemedicine uptake in Australia.
Inadequate Infrastructure