Journal of

Background and Aim: With the increasing spread of technology, the use of telemedicine to treat diseases is increasing. Diseases of the ear, throat and nose, are among the most common illnesses, especially among children, which can be diagnosed and treated through tele-otolaryngology.

Materials and Methods: This comparative study is conducted in the United Stated, Australia and England. The information needed for the present study was collected from print sources such as texts, journals, and articles found in such databases as Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of knowledge, Google Scholar, and Scopus. To this end, certain key words like Telemedicine, Telehealthotolaryngology, ENT, ear diseases, otology and Teleconsultation were used.

Results: The most common way to send information is through the standard otoscopy, video-otoscopy and videoconferencing equipment (Audio-Video Receiver). The information needed for Telehealthotolaryngology includes demographic information (patient's name, identification number, date of receiving services) together with the data related to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease (disease history, radiology and scan results, eardrum images, laboratory results and previous consultation results).

Conclusion: For telehealthotolaryngology, suitable equipment is required to transmit audio-visual data properly so that ENT specialists and audiologists can benefit from it in their examination and treatment. The application of this method can help patients to economize on their treatment expenses and to follow their treatment in a better way.

 Background and Aim: The hypothesis of supplier induced demand has attracted a lot of attention over the past three decades. Most studies in this field agree that healthcare providers have the ability to influence the demand for their products. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of institutions in the phenomenon of induced demand. This study has been done using experts' experiences in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

 Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study in which the semi-structured interview was used for data generation. The participants were those informed in this regard and considered as experts. For data saturation, purposive sampling was done. In this study, 17 people were interviewed, and criteria such as reliability and stability were considered. The anonymity of the interviewees was guaranteed. The data were transcribed and categorized, and then analyzed using thematic analysis.

 Results: In the present study, thematic analysis was conducted and 30 sub-themes and 2 main themes were extracted. The two main themes were healthcare insurance organizations and other health organizations. Each of the themes had its own sub-themes.

 Conclusion: The findings help health policy-makers have a better picture regarding the role of various institutions in the phenomenon of induced demand.