Clinicians' perceptions of telemedicine for remote neonatal consultation.

Telemedicine may have a useful role in neonatal care, particularly in regionalised health care systems where there may be impediments to access. Following the development of a system for neonatal teleconsultation, we assessed its efficacy, usability and preliminary effectiveness. While results were positive, uptake in routine clinical use was less than expected. The study described in this paper examined aspects of clinicians' perceptions of telemedicine in neonatal care. Overall, clinicians had positive perceptions of telemedicine. Further work is required to understand the negative perceived usefulness of telemedicine held by some clinicians and to determine whether this may be overcome.