• Martha Tesfalul, Ryan Littman-Quinn, Cynthia Antwi, Siphiwo Ndlovu, Didintle Motsepe, Motsholathebe Phuthego, Boitumelo Tau, Neo Mohutsiwa-Dibe, and Carrie Kovarik.
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• Stud Health Technol Inform. 2013 Jan 1; 192: 1074.

AbstractMobile telemedicine, which involves the use of cellular phone telecommunications to facilitate exchange of information between parties in different locations to assist in the management of patients, has become increasingly popular, particularly in resource-limited settings. In Botswana, small studies of mobile telemedicine programs suggest access to these services positively affect patients, but these programs' impact is difficult to capture given limitations of baseline and comparative data. Our observational study uses each patient receiving mobile oral telemedicine services in Botswana as his/her own control to assess the impact of these services on his/her diagnosis and management plan. At month 5 of 12 total, preliminary analysis of eligible cases (n = 27) reveals management plan discordance between clinicians submitting cases and the specialist was 68.0% (17/25), suggesting that telemedicine can result in significant changes in management of patients.

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