Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 11 Jul 2013 - 6:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Telehealth Can Safely Replace Follow-Up Clinic Visits, Study Shows
A study has revealed that telehealth, a way of monitoring a patient's health in their own home, can be used safely with actively mobile patients in place of the standard post-operative clinic visit.
Researchers from the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Healthcare System in California analyzed 115 patients who were recovering from open hernia repair (herniorrhaphy), and 26 patients who were recovering from gallbladder removal (laparoscopic cholecystectomy).
All patients participated in a telehealth post-operative follow-up program in place of a traditional follow-up clinic visit over a 10-month period. Patients were called by a physician assistant and assessed using a scripted template 2 weeks after surgery.
The study revealed that 78% of patients (110 patients) were successfully contacted. Of these patients: 70.8% of hernia patients (63) and 90.5% of gallbladder patients (19) agreed to telehealth as the main way of follow-up.
Throughout the follow-ups, there were no complications with the gallbladder patients and only 3 (4.8%) with the hernia patients.
The study also revealed that all patients were satisfied with the telephone follow-up method, and time and travel expense for patients was reduced, leaving more clinic time to schedule with other patients.
The authors concluded:
"This pilot study demonstrated that a scripted telehealth visit by an allied health professional can be safely and effectively used for the postoperative care of open herniorrhaphy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients."
Telehealth uses various technology, aiming to help people with health problems live at home. Blood pressure or blood glucose levels, for example, can be measured at home and transmitted electronically to a health professional.
The Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) program, a trial set up by the Department of Heath in order to show what telehealth, found that telehealth is capable of a 15% reduction in visits to A&E, a 20% reduction in emergency admissions and a 45% reduction in mortality rates.
Telehealth development is something that many technology and healthcare companies are investigating as a way of enabling clinical resources to be managed more effectively. In 2009, General Electric and Intel formed a Healthcare Alliance and invested $250 million in developing and marketing new telehealth technologies.
However, some studies have suggested that home-based telehealth care does not help patients who need long-term assistance. Research from a UK study showed that telehealth does not improve generic health-related quality of life or psychological outcomes for patients with long-term conditions over 12 months.
Written by Honor Whiteman
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Visit our primary care / general practice section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
MLA
11 Jul. 2013.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
'Telehealth Can Safely Replace Follow-Up Clinic Visits, Study Shows'
Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment