Are we all singing from the same song sheet? Standardizing terminology used in inter-professional telehealth education and practice: a mixed method study
BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION, ss.1-16, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.1186/s12909-025-07207-6
- Dergi Adı: BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-16
- Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Background Telehealth interventions have proven essential in maintaining healthcare delivery during the global pandemic. However, its broader adoption within different healthcare settings has been impacted by inconsistent and non-standardized terminology, which poses challenges to global implementation and stakeholder communication. This article addresses these barriers by analyzing telehealth-related terms and developing a detailed clinical guide to aid inter-professional health educators in adopting standardized terminology, improving clarity, and fostering collaboration. Methods A mixed-methods approach was used, comprising four phases. Phase 1 included weekly online journal club sessions (February to August 2024) focused on digital health topics, where relevant terms were discussed and extracted. Phase 2 involved detailed transcription analysis to identify telehealth-related terms based on their frequency of use and relevance to digital health. Phase 3 was a systematic literature review to contextualize and refine the identified terms. Phase 4 entailed expert validation, where five digital health professionals reviewed the proposed terminology and provided refinements. Additionally, terms were cross-referenced with the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database to evaluate their existing definitions. Results A total of 314 telehealth terms were identified through discussions in the International Journal Club in Digital Health (IJC DH) and a literature review. Approximately 90.44% of these terms were sourced from 12 journal club sessions, covering topics such as Digital Health, Digital Psychiatry, Neurorehabilitation, and Robotic Surgery. The literature review contributed 30 unique terms, with further analysis revealing that 73% of the terms were not defined in the MeSH database. This finding underscores the evolving nature of telehealth and the need for terminology standardization. Expert reviews validated most proposed definitions, though specific terms required additional discussion.