The authors conducted both quantitative and qualitative research with 29 home health agencies in a mid-Atlantic state. The home health agencies studied were both large and small, profit and not for profit. The research design divided the agencies by history of telehealth use, and 19 agencies were identified as using telehealth technology.
The results of the research reveal that home health agencies are not marketing their telehealth programs aggressively. Additionally, efforts to promote telehealth vary widely among the home health agencies. Finally, the research confirms the intuitive assumption that early adopters of telehealth technology are further ahead with the technology than are later adopters.
Based on the research findings, the authors provide the following recommendations:
* A healthcare organization should clearly define its telehealth strategy (i.e., clinical excellence, technological preeminence, or cost containment).
* Healthcare organizations may want to use a multipronged approach to marketing telehealth.
* Healthcare organizations should emphasize the improved medical outcomes derived from the use of telehealth technology.
* Healthcare organizations should appeal to customers' belief in both the technology and providers' willingness to use the technology.