Inter-Country Doctor-to-Doctor Telemedicine Conferences/Consultations Following COVID-19: A Survey of the National University Hospital Council of Japan.

IF 1.6 Q3 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Telemedicine reports Pub Date : 2025-05-20 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1089/tmr.2025.0015

Kuriko Kudo, Yukiko Hisada, Shintaro Ueda, Makoto Kikukawa, Naoki Nakashima, Tomohiko Moriyama

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Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the worldwide development of information and communications technology and the widespread use of domestic telemedicine, but the activities and needs of international telemedicine conferences/consultations remain unclear. We examined the experiences, needs, resources, and barriers related to international doctor-to-doctor telemedicine following the COVID-19 pandemic in Japanese national university hospitals.

Methods: In November 2021, a questionnaire was sent to 163 Internationalization Project Team representatives at 43 Japanese national university hospitals. Eighty-two of the representatives were medical staff in charge of internationalization (MI), and 81 were technical staff responsible for telecommunications (TT).

Results: The response rate was 94.2% (MI: 42/43 institutions; TT: 39/43 institutions). Fourteen institutions had been conducting international telemedicine programs with 62 countries. Public health was the most frequently cited topic, followed by nursing, surgery, pediatrics, and gastroenterology. All TT indicated that their institution had installed videoconferencing systems. Nineteen institutions indicated a need for international programs. The most serious barrier was the lack of "human resources" (84%), and this was noted more often by members in institutions without activity (p = 0.03). However, there was no difference between groups with and without a support department (p = 0.24) or MIs/TTs (p = 0.05).

Discussion: The technical barriers for international telemedicine were low after the pandemic. However, there are insufficient human resources to meet the growing needs. In addition to the international coordinators and administrative staff to support smooth communication with overseas partners, there is also a need for personnel to promote activities on their own.

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COVID-19后国家间医生对医生远程医疗会议/会诊：日本国立大学医院委员会调查

背景：2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致了全球信息通信技术的发展和国内远程医疗的广泛使用，但国际远程医疗会议/会诊的活动和需求仍不明朗。我们调查了日本国立大学医院在COVID-19大流行后与国际医生对医生远程医疗相关的经验、需求、资源和障碍。方法：于2021年11月向43家日本国立大学医院的163名国际化项目组代表发送问卷。82名代表是负责国际化（MI）的医务人员，81名代表是负责电信（TT）的技术人员。结果：回复率为94.2% (MI: 42/43家机构；TT: 39/43个机构)。14个机构与62个国家开展了国际远程医疗项目。公共卫生是最常被引用的话题，其次是护理、外科、儿科和胃肠病学。所有TT均表示其机构已安装视像会议系统。19个机构表示需要国际项目。最严重的障碍是缺乏“人力资源”（84%），这一点在没有活动的机构的成员中更为常见（p = 0.03）。然而，有无支持部门组之间无差异（p = 0.24）或MIs/ tt （p = 0.05）。讨论：大流行之后，国际远程医疗的技术壁垒很低。然而，人力资源不足以满足日益增长的需求。除了国际协调员和行政人员支持与海外合作伙伴的顺利沟通外，还需要人员自行推动活动。

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