Case study of different types of telemedicine diagnostic projects

Objective To compare the similarities and differences of four telemedicine diagnostic projects, for providing evidence-based policy-making advice for the development of telemedicine diagnostic projects in China. Methods Four projects led by the government, close medical alliances, loose medical alliances and companies were selected from November 2018 to June 2019. Through semi-structured interviews with different leaders, the authors analyzed the characteristics, problems and difficulties of different projects from three dimensions of organizational system, working conditions and operational effects. Results A total of 18 people were interviewed. Projects were different from each other in leaders, connection mechanism and effectiveness, participants and timeliness as well. The projects led by the government and close medical alliances had limited local participants with strong connection, clear but limited sources of diagnostic doctors and relatively large workload. While the projects led by loose medical alliances and companies had a wide range of participants, relatively weak connection efficiency and long response time. Conclusions Different types of telemedicine diagnostic projects have supplemented the manpower shortage of diagnosis physicians at primary medical institutions, introduced new service participants, as well as improved the medical service system. Key words: Telemedicine; Telemedicine diagnostic projects; Case study; Medical alliances