标题：Improving Computer-Mediated Synchronous Communication of Doctors in Rural Communities Through Cloud Computing: A Case Study of Rural Hospitals in South Africa
期刊名称：International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology (IJCSIT)
印刷版ISSN：0975-4660
电子版ISSN：0975-3826
出版年度：2012
卷号：4
期号：5
页码：13
出版社：Academy & Industry Research Collaboration Center (AIRCC)
摘要：This paper investigated how doctors in remote rural hospitals in South Africa use computer-mediated toolto communicate with experienced and specialist doctors for professional advice to improve on their clinicalpractices. A case study approach was used. Ten doctors were purposively selected from ten hospitals in theNorth West Province. Data was collected using semi-structured open ended interview questions. Theinterviewees were asked to tell in their own words the average number of patients served per week,processes used in consultation with other doctors, communication practices using computer-mediated tool,transmission speed of the computer-mediated tool and satisfaction in using the computer-mediatedcommunication tool. The findings revealed that an average of 15 consultations per doctor to a specialistdoctor per week was done through face to face or through telephone conversation instead of using acomputer-mediated tool. Participants cited reasons for not using computer-mediated tool forcommunication due to slow transmission speed of the Internet and regular down turn of the Internetconnectivity, constant electricity power outages and lack of e-health application software to support realtime computer-mediated communication. The results led to the recommendation of a hybrid cloudcomputing architecture for improving communication between doctors in hospitals
