Adoption and Use of Telecommunication for Rural Health Care
Funder: Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)
This grant was awarded to support the investigation of the adoption and use processes that underlie the success or failure of telecommunication technology as a means for supporting rural health care. It was conducted at six locations in Texas. The role of leadership at community and organizational levels is crucial in understanding the adoption of this technological innovation, and the project focuses on unexplored aspects of this process in one of the most rapidly developing areas of medical technology. The substance of this research has clear and direct links to the Institute's interest in the roles that leaders play in the introduction of technology and in the implications for health policy.
Research team members include Drs. Wm. Alex McIntosh (sociology), Letitia Alston (ISTPP/sociologist), and Arnold Vedlitz (ISTPP/political science). Additionally, there were a small number of personnel at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and Telemedical Interactive Consultative Services, Inc., in Austin who were involved in the grant on a subcontract basis. These individuals have backgrounds in medicine, telecommunications technology, and history.
