Performance objectives

Performance objectives for telehealth services  are provided in the international umbrella standard for telehealth services, ISO 13131 Health informatics — Telehealth services — Quality planning guidelines which provides advice and recommendations on how to develop quality objectives and guidelines for telehealth services by using a risk management process. The development of quality objectives and guidelines for telehealth services includes but is not limited to the following domains:

  • management of telehealth quality
    processes by the healthcare organization;
  • strategic and operational process
    management relating to regulations, knowledge management (best practice) and
    guidelines;
  • healthcare processes relating to people
    such as healthcare activities, planning, and responsibilities;
  • management of financial resources
    to support telehealth services;
  • management of information
    management and security used in telehealth services;
  • processes related to the planning
    and provision of human resources, infrastructure, facilities and technology
    resources for use by telehealth services.

(An earlier version of ISO 13131 is AS ISO 13131:2017 | Health informatics Telehealth services – Quality planning guidelines)

The features of services, products, processes within technical systems and devices should not be the subject of standardisation for use in telehealth services because:

  • Product or service features such
    as encryption, firewalls, anti-virus, protection etc may be used to achieve a
    performance outcome in many ways, may change over time.
  • Processes such as identity
    confirmation, recording of information, consent, appointment booking, may or
    may not be encoded into technical systems and may be used in different
    technical configurations.
  • Devices and services may be used
    in different technical configurations and systems to capture, transmit or
    display numeric, textual, audio or video information and their features may
    change over time.

Some of the domains of risk for technology services and products which may be used by telehealth services are healthcare activities, technology management and information management with suggested performance objectives for these domains based on ISO 13131 recommendations.

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