2. What is a Needs Assessment?
• A needs assessment is an analysis of the
communities you plan to serve to determine if
your service is appropriate for that population
• It is also an analysis of the organizations you
might partner with and their capabilities or
willingness
• This should be performed before starting a
telemedicine clinic to determine if your clinic is
needed and in what communities
3. When Should You Do a Needs
Assessment?
Needs/ Business
Market
Demand Plan
Analysis
Analysis
A needs assessment should be done first. A market
analysis uses the information derived from a needs
assessment to assist in defining a program or service
Reference: http://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/toolbox-module/introduction-marketing
4. What Does a Needs Assessment for
Telemedicine Include?
• What kind of access does the area have to specialists?
• What kinds of referrals are frequently given but also may
cause the patient hardship (due to travel
time, expense, etc)?
• Need for service and demand for service – there is a
difference
• Do not assume that since there is a need for the
service, there is automatically a demand for the service
• Does a community organization possess an expensive
piece of technology (like a CT scanner) that is
underutilized?
5. Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Know the cost and expense of the clinic (how
will this be paid for?)
• Know the potential revenue to be generated
(will you have enough business to cover
expenses?)
• Compare the cost and potential revenue
• Evaluate the feasibility and possibility of
investing new televideo equipment
6. Market Analysis
• Determine the number or the percentage of potential
patients—Look at the incidence in the general population or
plot out where the referrals come from
• Determine if there are service gaps in a community—How
far away is the nearest specialist?
• Identify key customers—Will they be willing to pay for the
telemedicine service?
• Identify competitors—What other similar services are being
provided?
• Identify potential partners—Will they be willing to join the
development?
7. Field Study
• Visit local healthcare
professionals/organizations to determine
their perception of the need and what their
current referral patterns are
• Visit the community to survey the local
patients and analyze their willingness of
accepting telemedicine service
8. Organizational Readiness
• Are potential partners (hospitals/clinics/schools)
ready for telemedicine?
• Do they have buy in from administration to make the
clinic successful?
• Do they have staff that can support the clinic on
their end?
• Do they have the equipment/technology to support
telemedicine?
• Is credentialing required at each site?
