Expected Challenges to implement Telemedicine service in public hospitals of Bangladesh

Abstract. Bangladesh is a developing country where providing sufficient and affordable health-care is a challenge due to the high population density and poor healthcare infrastructure. Considering this reality, the Government of Bangladesh is going to implement telemedicine in public hospitals of Bangladesh. In order to introduce telemedicine in public hospitals in Bangladesh itis important to identify and address issues and challenges that may affect successful implementation. So, the aim of our project was to identify the challenges to implement telemedicine in public hospitals of Bangladesh. A Qualitative exploratory research approach has been used to conduct the study. The model of Khalifehsoltani & Gerami (2010) was used to investigate the six areas of expected challenges to implement telemedicine in public hospitals of Bangladesh in our study. After analysing the collected data in the light of a conceptual mode it was found that the expected challenges to implement telemedicine in public hospitals of Bangladesh are related to a lack of sufficient funds, the anxieties of patients about telemedicine, the lack of widespread and continuous education for public use of e-health services, a weakness of the software to deal with increasing workloads, shortage of technologically skilled manpower, the lack of a comprehensive legal framework about telemedicine, lack of telemedicine related policy and lack of telecommunication network in some areas of the country. Before being able to successfully implement the telemedicine project in public hospitals the government of Bangladesh needs to take some serious initiatives to solve these challenges.Keywords. E-health, Telemedicine, Challenges, Implement, Public hospitals.JEL. H51, H70, I10