Open AccessClinicians' Perspectives of a Novel Home-based Multidisciplinary Telehealth Service for Patients with Chronic Spinal Pain
Author(s) -
Michelle Cottrell,
Anne J. Hill,
Shaun O’Leary,
Maree Raymer,
Trevor Russell
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of telerehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.273
H-Index - 3
ISSN - 1945-2020
DOI - 10.5195/ijt.2018.6249
Subject(s) - telerehabilitation , telehealth , multidisciplinary approach , medicine , service (business) , physical therapy , telemedicine , service delivery framework , physical medicine and rehabilitation , health care , business , social science , marketing , sociology , economics , economic growth
Chronic spinal pain conditions can often be successfully managed by a non-surgical, multidisciplinary approach, however many individuals are unable to access such specialised services within their local community. A possible solution may be the delivery of care via telerehabilitation. This study aimed to evaluate clinicians' perspectives on providing clinical care via telerehabilitation during the early implementation of a novel spinal telerehabilitation service. Eight clinicians' were recruited, completing surveys at four separate time points. Confidence in providing treatment via telerehabilitation significantly improved with time (χ 2 (3)=16.22, p=0.001). Clinicians became significantly more accepting of telerehabilitation being a time- (χ 2 (3)=11.237, p=0.011), and cost-effective (χ 2 (3)=9.466, p=0.024) platform in which they could deliver care. Overall satisfaction was high, with technology becoming easier to use (p=0.026) and ability to establish rapport significantly improved with experience (p=0.043). Understanding clinicians' perspectives throughout the early implementation phase of a new telerehabilitation service is a critical component in determining long-term sustainability.