Prioritisation of telemedicine services for large scale implementation in Norway

In late 2005, the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority requested an evaluation of all tested telemedicine services in northern Norway to clarify which were suitable for large scale implementation. A total of 282 reports from the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, the University Hospital of North Norway and the University of Tromsø were included in the study. Projects not focusing on secondary health care were excluded and 46 studies representing 21 topics entered the final analysis. They were analysed with a self-developed scoring tool focusing on five items. Eleven topics were concluded as being candidates for large scale implementation and grouped according to priority. The first priority topics were teleradiology, digital communication/integration of patient records and education. The second priority topics were teledialysis, pre-hospital thrombolysis, telepsychiatry and teledermatology. The third priority topics were paediatrics, district medical centres, tele-ophthalmology and tele-otorhinolaryngology. No priority was suggested for the projects in cardiology, endocrinology, geriatrics, gynaecology/obstetrics, pathology and nursing/care. User support, training, research ability, financial incentives and interaction between clinicians and ICT-personnel were considered as important factors in motivating health-care personnel to use telemedicine.