A model for the expansion of telemedicine technology in the field of treatment

Telemedicine is considered to be the result of the combination of rapid developments in the two specialized fields of information technology and medicine, and observing the favorable and rapid effects of this technology has encouraged the managers of health systems in many countries, including Iran, to expand it. However, despite the advantages that this technology can have for a country like Iran, this technology did not have the expected expansion in Iran, and for this reason, the current research sought to formulate a model for the expansion of telemedicine in the field of treatment. Previous researches, with much more limited areas, have focused more on Davis’s technology acceptance model and the theory of logical action. In this research, which was conducted with a user-centred approach, using the opinions of experts and the fuzzy Delphi method (in the first part) and the validation of the resulting model by operational experts (in the second part), finally, a model for expanding this technology with 4 main factors effective and 14 components of those factors were obtained and the validity of the resulting model was also confirmed by several different criteria, including the goodness of fit criterion. The results showed that the component of resistance to use among cultural and social factors has the most significant impact on the development of this technology, and this resistance was observed mostly on the side of doctors and treatment service providers. After that, the amount and type of allocation of financial resources and government policies are in the next ranks. The least significant impact was attributed to the perceived risk. The results showed that the components of attitude and the expected performance had no significant effect on the development of telemedicine and the most important factors affecting the development of this technology are in the area of authority of the government and policymakers of the health system.