We took a quick peek into this month’s new acquisitions and found a new article from Katherine Seelman (former director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research) and Linda Hartman. Telerehabilitation: Policy Issues and Research Tools was presented at the Rehab Engineering Research Center’s virtual state-of-the-science conference in November and will be published in the April issue of the International Journal of Telerehabilitation.

Here’s the REHABDATA abstract:

Article discusses the current state-of-the-science on telerehabilitation (TR) policy and research methodology and makes recommendations about future research needs. An extensive search of the literature was conducted using search terms grouped into the main topics of TR, policy, population of users, and policy-specific issues such as cost and reimbursement. The availability of rigorous and valid evidence-based cost studies emerged as a major challenge to the field. Existing cost studies provide evidence that tele-homecare may be a promising application area for TR. Cost studies also indicate that tele-psychiatry is a promising area. Notably, the literature did not reference the International Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health. The authors conclude that outcome studies characterized by rigorous and comprehensive TR assessment and evaluation are required to generate confidence among providers, payers, clinicians, and end users. This draft document was presented at the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telerehabilitation’s Virtual State of the Science Conference, Nov. 17- Nov. 20, 2008 at the University of Pittsburgh. The paper will be published in its final form in the April 2009 issue of the International Journal of Telerehabilitation.

A version of the paper is available from NARIC’s website at http://www.naric.com/research/rehab/download.cfm?ID=109157