A study of a rural community's readiness for telehealth

A qualitative approach was used to explore the readiness of a rural community for the implementation of telehealth services. There were four domains of interest: patient, practitioner, public and organization. Sixteen semistructured telephone interviews (three to five in each domain) were carried out with key informants and recorded on audio-tape. Two community awareness sessions were held, which were followed by five audio-taped focus groups (with five to eight people in each) in the practitioner, patient and public domains. In addition, two in-depth interviews were conducted with community physicians. Analysis of the data suggested that there were four types of community readiness: core, engagement, structural and non-readiness. The level of readiness varied across domains. There were six main themes: core readiness; structural readiness; projection of benefits; assessment of risk; awareness and education; and intra-group and inter-group dynamics. The results of the study can be used to investigate the readiness of rural and remote communities for telehealth, which should improve the chance of successful implementation.