HyoRim Ju, Donghee Seo, Soojeong Kim, Juyoung Choi, EunKyo Kang
{"title":"Contents analysis of telemedicine applications in South Korea: An analysis of possibility of inducing selective or unnecessary medical care.","authors":"HyoRim Ju, Donghee Seo, Soojeong Kim, Juyoung Choi, EunKyo Kang","doi":"10.1177/14604582241260644","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of telemedicine and telehealth has rapidly increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, could lead to unnecessary medical service. This study analyzes the contents of telemedicine apps (applications) in South Korea to investigate the use of telemedicine for selective or unnecessary medical treatments and the presence of advertising for the hospital. This study analyzed 49 telemedicine mobile apps in Korea; a content analysis of the apps' features and quality using a Mobile Application Rating Scale was done. The study analyzed 49 mobile telemedicine apps and found that 65.3% of the apps provide immediate telemedicine service without reservations, with an average rating of 4.35. 87% of the apps offered selective care, but the overall quality of the apps was low, with an average total quality score of 3.27. 73.9% of the apps were able to provide selective care for alopecia or morning-after pill prescription, 65.2% of the apps for weight loss, and 52.2% of the apps for erectile dysfunction, with the potential to encourage medical inducement or abuse. Therefore, before introducing telemedicine, it is helpful to prevent the possibility of abuse of telemedicine by establishing detailed policies for methods and scope of telemedicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":55069,"journal":{"name":"Health Informatics Journal","volume":"30 2","pages":"14604582241260644"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Informatics Journal","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582241260644","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The use of telemedicine and telehealth has rapidly increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, could lead to unnecessary medical service. This study analyzes the contents of telemedicine apps (applications) in South Korea to investigate the use of telemedicine for selective or unnecessary medical treatments and the presence of advertising for the hospital. This study analyzed 49 telemedicine mobile apps in Korea; a content analysis of the apps' features and quality using a Mobile Application Rating Scale was done. The study analyzed 49 mobile telemedicine apps and found that 65.3% of the apps provide immediate telemedicine service without reservations, with an average rating of 4.35. 87% of the apps offered selective care, but the overall quality of the apps was low, with an average total quality score of 3.27. 73.9% of the apps were able to provide selective care for alopecia or morning-after pill prescription, 65.2% of the apps for weight loss, and 52.2% of the apps for erectile dysfunction, with the potential to encourage medical inducement or abuse. Therefore, before introducing telemedicine, it is helpful to prevent the possibility of abuse of telemedicine by establishing detailed policies for methods and scope of telemedicine.
期刊介绍:
Health Informatics Journal is an international peer-reviewed journal. All papers submitted to Health Informatics Journal are subject to peer review by members of a carefully appointed editorial board. The journal operates a conventional single-blind reviewing policy in which the reviewer’s name is always concealed from the submitting author.