Feasibility study of the telemedicine systems deployment in rehabilitation centers for addiction therapy

Objective: This study aim was to determine the feasibility to establish a telemedicine system in one of the rehabilitation and addiction treatment centers in Tehran. Materials: and Methods: This study was descriptive-cross sectional. The research population consisted of 28 people, who were the head and Senior Executive Manager, financial director, IT manager, physicians, nurses and counselors of the addiction center. Due to the small number of statistical population, a total number of sampling was performed. The field research tool was interview, observation and standard questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed by professors and experts and its reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.87). SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Results: : Our studied center, has the sufficient technical infrastructures needed to implement Telemedicine, and the IT department has a good level of awareness about telemedicine technology. The center does not have any strategic plan that includes telemedicine, and the manager board does not support telemedicine, but the center has the support of the chief executive manager on this matter. The shortage of technical staff, insurance and reimbursement problems, initial costs and medical staff shortages, current costs, and training and medical staff resistance are, in the order of priority, the major barriers to telemedicine implementation, and time barriers, employee attitudes, privacy and licensing issues , issues of confidentiality and competition are less important. Conclusion: Considering that the Rehabilitation and Addict Treatment Center has the technical infrastructures necessary for the implementation of the telemedicine system, as well as the IT department manager is familiar with telemedicine technology, the cost of deploying this system in the center is not significant and is cost-effective. It is recommended to develop an appropriate strategic plan, conduct training programs to change the administrative staff culture and coordinate with the insurer's organizations.