A prospective satisfaction study and cost analysis of a pilot child telepsychiatry service in Newfoundland

Abstract

We evaluated user satisfaction with a PC-based videoconferencing system used for child psychiatry assessments and performed a cost analysis. Thirty patients (aged 5-16 years), accompanied by a parent, completed a psychiatric assessment using the videoconferencing system. One of five child psychiatrists was randomly assigned to each assessment. Satisfaction questionnaires were completed after each assessment by the psychiatrist, patient and parent. Parents also completed a cost questionnaire. The telecommunications bandwidth was 336 kbit/s. The psychiatrists stated that they were either 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' with the telepsychiatry assessments. On a five-point Likert scale (1 = lowest, 5 = highest), 28 of the 30 parents (93%) rated their satisfaction level as 5; the other two rated it 4. All 30 parents (100%) stated that they 'liked' the telepsychiatry assessment and would use the system again. Twenty-nine parents (97%) indicated that they would prefer to use the telepsychiatry system to travelling to see a child psychiatrist in person. Eleven children (aged 5-12) participated and all (100%) said they 'liked' using the telepsychiatry system. Five out of nine children (56%) stated they liked the 'television doctor' better than the 'real' doctor; four said they had no preference. Nineteen adolescents (aged 13-16 years) participated and most were very satisfied or satisfied with the system. Seventeen of the 19 adolescents (89%) said they would prefer to see the psychiatrist on the videoconferencing system to travelling for an assessment, and the same number said that they would use telepsychiatry again. The estimated total travel cost for the 30 patients was $12,849, an average of $428 per patient. The total cost of the telepsychiatry service for the three-month pilot was $12,575, or $419 per patient.

General practitioners' perceptions of asynchronous telemedicine in a randomized controlled trial of teledermatology

“…This study reports less favourable GP responses to telemedicine than observed in previous studies [9][10][11][12][13][14] , and suggests that GPs remain cautious about the introduction of TD into their Practices. It also suggests that using the model of telemedicine described in this paper would not be appropriate and widely acceptable to GPs.…”

“…The few studies that do exist suggest high levels of satisfaction among doctors involved in the use of telemedicine. [9][10][11][12][13][14] The authors are aware of no other published studies that have reported upon the views and perceptions of GPs towards asynchronous telemedicine in dermatology over time. Therefore, this paper provides an original contribution to the current telemedicine literature in primary care.…”

Teletherapy Delivery of Caregiver Behavior Training for Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…10 In the context of this article, teletherapy refers to the use of videoteleconferencing (VTC) to deliver interactively psychosocial interventions that are usually provided in-person. Multiple studies have reported the feasibility, acceptability, and tolerability of providing teletherapy to youth, [11][12][13][14][15][16] but few studies have examined the efficacy of teletherapy with caregivers and youth. Reese et al 17 used a pre-to post-intervention study design to examine the efficacy of a Group Triple P Positive Parenting Program (''Group Triple P'') for families with children diagnosed with attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and behavioral problems.…”

Masthead

“…Interactive videoconferencing offers an efficient, cost-effective (Elford et al 2001;Myers et al 2004;O'Reilly et al 2007;Persaud et al 2005) and user-friendly modality (Ermer 1999), providing increased knowledge and training in pediatric mental health to distant and under-serviced areas (Broder et. al 2004;Pignatiello et al 2008).…”