Telemedicine in the county council of Västerbotten : Diffusion and inventory of telemedicine from a geographical perspective

Telemedicine is the use of information and communication technology to provide clinical health care at a distance. This approach is usually adopted to bridge the distance in rural settings, but it is also a method to meet demographical and economical challenges. Västerbotten, a sparsely populated county with an ageing population, is in leading edge when it comes to telemedicine. The purpose of this report was to examine the diffusion and the inventory of telemedicine in the county council of Västerbotten from a geographical perspective. To gain a deeper understanding of diffusion and inventory of telemedicine, my purpose was also to examine these processes from an international and national perspective. Telemedicine and diffusion as concepts, and how these have been portrayed in the literature were studied, as well as the driving forces behind, and the barriers to further diffusion of telemedicine. The main focus in the report was telemedicine in the county council of Västerbotten and their ongoing inventory of telemedicine. The background of the inventory, how it is being performed and what the results have been up to this date were investigated. All these aspects were performed through interviews. An important factor to successful implementation of telemedicine, is the use of comprehensive and systematic performed evaluations of telemedicine activities. The inventory performed by the county council of Västerbotten is an important contribution to the lack of evidence in this area. Although, a major barrier to successful implementation and further diffusion of telemedicine, appears to be attitudes among health care staff