The Role of Telemedicine in Enhancing Healthcare Access in Rural Areas: A Systematic Review

Background: Access to healthcare in rural areas has always been a significant challenge in many parts of the world. The scarcity of healthcare infrastructure and the lack of specialists contribute to difficulties in providing adequate healthcare services to rural populations. Telemedicine, as an innovative solution, has the potential to overcome these barriers by providing healthcare services remotely, thus enhancing access to care for rural residents. This systematic review aims to explore the role of telemedicine in increasing healthcare access in rural areas. Materials and Methods: A review was performed independently by two people based on the PICO criteria and aligned to the research objective and based on the PRISMA checklist and using PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, SID databases Google Scholar search engine, and Boolean operators. The time limit between ۲۰۱۸ and ۲۰۲۴ was determined using the MESH keywords "Telemedicine", "Healthcare" and "Rural Area". After checking the entry and exit criteria and critically evaluating the quality of the selected articles, a total of ۸ articles were included in the study. Results: The findings of this review demonstrate that telemedicine has significantly increased access to healthcare services in rural areas. Specifically, remote consultations, telemedicine visits with specialists, and management of chronic diseases remotely have helped reduce the need for long-distance travel and improved access to healthcare services in these areas. Furthermore, telemedicine has been shown to improve patient satisfaction and reduce healthcare costs. Conclusion: These results suggest that telemedicine can be an effective solution to address healthcare access issues in rural areas. However, challenges remain, such as limitations in technological infrastructure, cultural and legal barriers, and a lack of proper training for both patients and healthcare providers. Overall, telemedicine holds great potential to improve healthcare access in rural areas, but full utilization of this potential requires appropriate policymaking and improvements in technological infrastructure.

کلیدواژه ها:

Telemedicine ، Healthcare ، Rural Area