The value of an evaluation framework for telehealth initiatives

Healthcare managers and policy makers will, in the immediate and near futur e, make major decisions about the allocation of scarce healthcare resources for telehealth 'solutions'. In our haste to capitalize on what technology can do we may be obscuring discussion and research about what technology sh ould do. For example, currently much attention is being paid to standardiza tion for technological aspects of telehealth. In contrast few efforts have been made to seek standardization in regards to a broad evaluation framewor k for telehealth. A body of opinion believes that missing in our rush into the on-line world is a systematic approach to research into the human, soci al, cultural, economic, and political factors associated with healthcare. A s a result we lack the tools and experience necessary to assess the true va lue and implications of telehealth 'solutions'. Developing general guidelin es for an evaluation framework, from needs assessment through integrated re search to post-study assessment, would greatly enhance the quality of decis ion making by healthcare managers and policy makers. We propose a model - t he Telehealth Integrated Research Model (TIRM) - as the first step in encou raging discussion and development of an internationally accepted standardiz ed telehealth evaluation framework.