- Lack of 'hands-on' interaction with patients
- Lack of public awareness
- Fear that telehealth will limit communities' access to direct patient care by health professionals
- Inability to incorporate telehealth into practice
- Resistance from health consumers to use the technology
- Expensive connection make it hard to expand.
- Internet connection in remote communities is only available via satellite making it very expensive to deliver telehealth in all remote health centres.
- Lack of access to ongoing funding for maintaining the existing equipment and infrastructure
- Lack of modern telecommunications infrastructure and access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) for aboriginal remote communities
- Bandwidth challenges which limits access to the service
- Limited capacity of local health centres with access to telehealth technology
- Privacy, security and confidentiality concerns.
- Variations and lack of consistency in developing a federal strategy for care provider reimbursement and program funding.
- Fear of malpractice suits is a consideration for many physicians, as is acceptance of the technology
- Concerns regarding informed consent, particularly in the care of mental health and Paediatric populations.
- Absence of policies and lack of provincial or national standards on use of telehealth
- Absence of a national universal e-health solution.
- Limited availability of health care professionals
- High turnover of rural staff who require training on the use of telehealth
Gustke S S, Balch D C, West V L, Rogers L O. (2000). Patient satisfaction with telemedicine. Telemedicine Journal, 6(1): 5-13. Retrieved from: http://tie.telemed.org/citations_t2.asp?citation=8249
Scott, R. E. (2007). Telehealth in Canada – been there, done that? Retrieved from: http://www.sct.scot.nhs.uk/documents/RichardEScott.ppt
