The success of telehealth applications is dependent upon a number of considerations, many of which are related to human factors(HF): how humans interact with technical systems during use, training, and maintenance. Formed in the spring of 2003, the mission of the Human Factors Special Interest Group (SIG) is:

• To promote the conscious integration of human factors into telemedicine and e-health systems by first providing education in the practical use of HF principles and methodologies, and second by reaching out to the designers and vendors of telemedicine technology and systems
• To make HF a significant design and operational component of a modern, technologically enabled health care system
• To promote and provide education on human factors principles and methodologies in the use of telecommunications technology in healthcare
• To provide a forum for ATA members to exchange information and network in areas related to human factors in various application settings

Areas of focus for the coming year:

• Form a task force to plan and design a short course for future ATA annual meetings.
• Form a task force to develop Human Factors evaluation guidelines that can be applied to telemedicine projects.
• Identify areas of interest shared with other ATA SIGs for potential future collaboration. 

SIG Leadership

Chair George Demiris, PhD Associate Professor Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems School of Nursing & Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics School of Medicine Graduate Program Director Biomedical and Health Informatics University of Washington BNHS-Box 357266 Seattle, WA Phone: 206-221-3866 Fax: 206.543.4771 Email: gdemiris@u.washington.edu	Vice-Chair Neil Charness, PhD William G. Chase Professor of Psychology Florida State University Room A205, Department of Psychology 1107 W. Call Street Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301 Phone: 850-644-6686 Fax: 850-644-7739 Email: Charness@psy.fsu.edu
Immediate Past Chair James Katzenstein, PhD Director Healthspan International Foundation 26571 Lucinda Mission Viejo, CA 92691 Phone: 949-348-1986 Cell: 949-338-1835 Fax: 949-348-2712 Email: jimkatphd@cs.com

SIG Communication Tools

• Human Factors SIG Directory  - A real-time listing of all active Human Factors SIG members. 
• Online Forum  - The HUman Factors SIG Online Forum is a resource for sharing information and fostering communication between SIG members and working groups. (Please note: you must be a member of ATA to participate in the Forum.)
• Listserv  - This listserv will send an email message to all members of the Human Factors SIG. (Please note: you must send the message from the same email address listed in your ATA member profile--otherwise the message will not be delivered. You must be a member of the SIG to use the listserv. )

SIG Goals & Activities

• SIG Goals for 2009-2010 

 SIG Products & Resources

• Roundtable Discussion Human Factors in Telemedicine (December 2008) - Courtesy of the journal Telemedicine and eHealth, published by Maryanne Liebert, Publishers.  This roundtable brought together a group of human factors researchers from the American Telemedicine Association’s (ATA) Human Factors Special Interest Group, moderated by Elizabeth Krupinski, Ph.D., president of the ATA, to discuss the breadth and importance of human factors research in telehealth. It is clear that all dimensions of human factors could not be explored in the context of a 1one-hour roundtable discussion, but the goal is to give readers a better sense of what human factors is and how it it can be utilized to improve and understand the telehealth experience and enterprise. 
• Human Factors Telehealth Annotated Bibliography
• SIG Member Interests and Areas of Expertise

 SIG Meetings

• Minutes from ATA 2009 SIG Meeting (29 April 2009)
• Minutes from ATA 2008 SIG Meeting (7 April 2008)
• Minutes from July 2007 Conference Call (25 July 2007)
• Minutes from June 2007 Meeting (27 June 2007)
• Minutes from March 2007 Meeting (March 2007)
• Minutes from Winter 2007 Meeting  (January-February 2007)

SIG participation is an exclusive benefit to ATA members. If you are interested in joining this group, contact the chair, email ATA at membership@americantelemed.org or call ATA at 202-223-3333.