Telemedicine system: service adoption and implementation issues in Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: The study seeks to understand why there is a wide gap in the telemedicine service implementation and adoption in Nigeria, the existing evidence shows that less than 5% of such hospital information systems has been utilized in a country of more than 180 million people. Methodology: We applied in-depth semi-structured interviews approach such that the opinions of clinicians were sampled at two government hospitals in Nigeria to identify other principal users' attributes affecting telemedicine implementation adoption from clinicians' perspectives. The combination of the factors from literature and thematic analysis led to the formulation of telemedicine service adoption framework that highlights telemedicine implementation issues. Findings: The outcome of the study led to the establishment of a telemedicine implementation framework and recommendations for a feasible and sustainable telemedicine service adoption for clinicians in Nigeria.

Telemedicine ready or not? A cross-sectional assessment of telemedicine maturity of federally funded tertiary health institutions in Nigeria

“…Other studies report a lack of a legal framework to cover TM service delivery in their facility/locality within Nigeria, 18 and a number of studies report staff concerns about medico-legal implications of TM, issues of data privacy, impersonation and quackery. 23 A well-structured regulatory framework is crucial for a successful and sustainable TM service. The 2010 WHO report on the second global survey on eHealth noted that lower-middle and low-income countries (LMICs) had the lowest percentage of countries with policies or legislation to define medical jurisdiction, liability, reimbursement, patient safety and quality of care, and protection of privacy of personally identifiable information and privacy of individual's electronic health data.…”

Telemedicine Ready or Not? a cross-sectional assessment of telemedicine maturity of federally funded tertiary health institutions in Nigeria

“…Other studies report a lack of legal framework to cover telemedicine service delivery in their facility/locality within Nigeria, 12 and a number of studies report staff concerns about medico-legal implications of telemedicine, issues of data privacy, impersonation and quackery. 17 A well-structured regulatory framework is crucial for a successful and sustainable telemedicine service. The 2010 WHO report on the second global survey on eHealth noted that lower-middle and low-income countries (LMICs) had the lowest percentage of countries with policies or legislation to define medical jurisdiction, liability, reimbursement, patient safety and quality of care, and protection of privacy of personally identifiable information and privacy of individual’s electronic health data.…”

Improving access to maternal care in Africa through telemedicine and digital health

“…25 On average, African countries only spend 5%-6% of their Gross domestic product on healthcare. 26 In addition, most African countries have either limited or absent legal frameworks for telemedicine 27 which has the added consequence of deterring private investors. Poor Internet connectivity and low bandwidth remain problems in many areas, especially remote, resulting in women being unable to avail services.…”