Tele-Primary Care and Patient Satisfaction in Korea.
- Author:
Taiwoo YOO
1
;
Hee Jeong KOH
;
Sang Woo OU
Author Information
1. Department of Family Medicines, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Korea. tyoo@mydoctor.snu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Tele-Primary Care;
Patient Satisfaction;
Health Care Delivery;
Telemedicine
- MeSH:
Blood Pressure;
Delivery of Health Care;
Humans;
Internet;
Korea*;
Patient Satisfaction*;
Primary Health Care;
Stethoscopes;
Telemedicine;
Videoconferencing
- From:Journal of Korean Society of Medical Informatics
2003;9(1):17-24
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Korea has a unique feature for telemedicine, including geographical mal-distribution of medical resources, immature health care delivery and heavy traffic in metropolitan areas. As one solution for these issues, we developed a tele-primary care system and tested its feasibility and user satisfaction. The tele-primary care system is based on PC's with videoconferencing hardware. The patient PC equipped with diagnostic peripherals such as blood pressure, stethoscope, magnifying camera, and so on. There are two remote clinics and 4 homes which are connected to the telecare center through leased lines or fast internet. Three hundred ninety eight patients were seen during the period of one year and each made about 2 visits on an average. The health problems seen through tele-primary care were not different from ones in primary care clinics. Drugs were prescribed over the half of the visits and labs were used only infrequently. Most users were satisfied and felt comfortable with this new type of medicine. We found tele-primary care system would be one solution for health delivery issues in Korea.
