BACKGROUND As usage of digital information and communication technologies continues to grow, the incorporation of telehealth and telemedicine has become a topic of interest in the veterinary industry. Veterinary telemedicine presents the opportunity to expand veterinary medicine by increasing access to healthcare services for clients and patients and improving medical quality. The objective of this study was to assess veterinarians' knowledge and utilization of telehealth and telemedicine. RESULTS Seventy-six veterinarians participated in the study and both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on the data collected. Several key themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of open-ended questions, including telecommunication, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)-patient services, and remote interaction, among others. Through coding and qualitative analysis, researchers identified a lack of knowledge of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) definitions of telehealth and telemedicine. Specifically, a notable amount of participants were unaware of the distinction between the two practices per AVMA guidelines. Quantitative analyses revealed that the largest group of respondents reported sometimes utilizing telehealth and telemedicine in practice, with no distinct difference in utilization among the different age demographics of participants. CONCLUSIONS These observations indicate a need for interventions both in veterinary school and continuing education programs with the purpose of increasing both knowledge and utilization of telehealth and telemedicine among veterinarians. While these recommendations serve as a starting point, future studies are needed to further enhance the understanding of veterinary telehealth and telemedicine in practice.

中文翻译：

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兽医对远程医疗的知识和使用情况的调查。

背景技术随着数字信息和通信技术的使用持续增长，远程医疗和远程医疗的结合已经成为兽医行业关注的话题。兽医远程医疗通过增加对客户和患者的医疗保健服务以及提高医疗质量，提供了扩展兽医学的机会。这项研究的目的是评估兽医对远程医疗和远程医疗的了解和利用。结果76名兽医参加了这项研究，并对收集的数据进行了定性和定量分析。对开放性问题的定性分析提出了几个关键主题，包括电信，兽医学（DVM）-患者服务以及远程交互等。通过编码和定性分析，研究人员发现对美国远程医疗协会（AVMA）的远程医疗和远程医疗定义缺乏了解。具体来说，根据AVMA指南，大量参与者没有意识到两种做法之间的区别。定量分析显示，最大的一组受访者表示有时在实践中使用远程医疗和远程医疗，在参与者的不同年龄人口统计中，使用率没有明显差异。结论这些观察表明，需要在兽医学校和继续教育计划中都进行干预，以增加兽医对远程医疗和远程医疗的了解和利用。虽然这些建议是一个起点，