Tailoring software process capability/maturity models for telemedicine systems

Developing high-quality asynchronous store-and-forward telemedicine systems (ASFTSs) remains a challenge. However, there is no accepted understanding as to what are the important quality characteristics for this type of software system and/or what defines a mature software process for producing high-quality ASTFSs. Through adopting a multi-step research methodology, we define a quality model for ASFTSs indicating relevant quality characteristics and their priority for this specific type of software system based upon ISO/IEC 25010. We, then, propose an extended software process capability/maturity model based on ISO/IEC 15504 and ISO/IEC 12207 to meet these particular quality requirements. The resulting model can be used to both guide the development and the evaluation of such systems. We expect that the availability of such a customized model will facilitate the development of high-quality ASFTSs, reducing related risks and improving the quality of telemedicine services.