A qualitative assessment of patient and provider satisfaction with new implementation of a telemedicine system

The literature identifies three domains of satisfaction with health care: science of medicine, art of care, and amenities of care. All areas are potentially affected by the delivery of health care through telemedicine, a media that separates the care provider from the patient. The purpose of the presented research is the development of instruments to measure patient and provider satisfaction with telemedicine. Patient and provider satisfaction instruments in general have been developed with little qualitative input from the consumer, and many have poorly established validity and reliability. For this project, focus groups are being used to develop survey instruments measuring patient and provider satisfaction with telemedicine. Survey instruments will then undergo testing for measures of reliability testing and factor. Preliminary focus groups have been conducted with patients and providers participating in a civilian telemedicine, and with military health care providers who have been involved in telemedicine in a variety of areas.