Premium
Satisfaction with rural rheumatology telemedicine service
Author(s) -
Poulsen Katherine A.,
Millen Catherine M.,
Lakshman Umayal I.,
Buttner Petra G.,
Roberts Lynden J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.12491
Subject(s) - telemedicine , medicine , face to face , referral , rheumatology , family medicine , patient satisfaction , service (business) , health care , nursing , philosophy , epistemology , economics , economic growth , economy
Aim To assess patient satisfaction with the rheumatology telemedicine service provided to a rural town in northern A ustralia. Methods A prospective, questionnaire‐based exploratory study of patients seen at the M ount I sa (rural town) rheumatology telemedicine clinics during 2012 was undertaken. Control groups included patients travelling over 3 h to be seen face‐to‐face in T ownsville (tertiary referral centre), and patients seen at the infrequent face‐to‐face clinic in M ount I sa. A 5‐point L ikert scale was used to explore themes of communication, confidentiality, physical examination, rapport, medication safety and access. Results This study evaluated 107 rheumatology outpatients (49 telemedicine, 46 face‐to‐face T ownsville, 12 face‐to‐face M ount I sa). Patients seen in M ount I sa travelled a median of < 10 km for either the telemedicine or local face‐to‐face appointments. The patients attending the Townsville face‐to‐face clinic travelled a median of 354 km. New patients comprised 14% of consultations. Satisfaction with themes related to quality‐of‐care was high with over 90% selecting ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ to these questions. Comparing models of care, there were no statistically significant differences in the rates of those selecting ‘strongly agree’ across questions, apart from a single question related to rapport which favored the M ount I sa face‐to‐face model ( P = 0.018). When asked whether they would rather travel to T ownsville than participate in a telemedicine consultation, 63% of patients selected ‘disagree’ (17%) or ‘strongly disagree’ (46%). Conclusions These results suggest that patients are satisfied with a rheumatology telemedicine service, and may prefer this to extensive travelling. Evaluation in other settings is recommended before generalizing this finding.