Skype clinics after intestinal transplantation – follow‐up beyond post codes

Abstract

The follow-up after intestinal transplantation (ITX) is complex and limited to specialized centers. ITX recipients often travel all over the country to be seen in the outpatient clinic of specialized centers which is costly and time-consuming. Videoconferences through Skype have been implemented to eliminate travel time, costs, and to improve patient compliance without jeopardizing safety. Eighteen of 19 patients followed up after ITX or modified multivisceral transplantation (MMVTX) in conventional outpatient clinics in Oxford agreed to attend additional Skype clinics. All patients who were followed up through Skype clinics after ITX/MMVTX received a questionnaire to measure their satisfaction with methods and technical aspects of videoconferencing as well as time/mode of traveling, travel expenses/costs, waiting time in outpatient clinic and patients' satisfaction. Mean travel distance to Oxford was 236 ± 168 miles, mean travel time was 277 ± 175 min, and mean travel cost was 200 ± 56 Great Britain Pounds. A total of 56% had to take time off work and/or find child/family care for the time spent in travel. These patients reported a satisfaction score of 4.38 ± 0.77 of 5 points as opposed to 2.88 ± 0.90 for attending the conventional outpatient clinic. Skype clinics have been proven successful and feasible in highly specialized fields like ITX in eligible patients.

Outcomes of telehealth care for lung transplant recipients

“…This is similar to other studies in both solid organ transplant and nontransplant settings where patients rated telehealth visits highly in terms of satisfaction 2. A small study out of the UK examined outcomes in intestinal transplant recipients followed by Skype 11. After a median of 180 days post-transplant, patients were given a choice between continued monthly clinic visits or weekly Skype conferences plus in-person visits every 3 months.…”

“…and survival in this group. A small study out of the UK examined outcomes in intestinal transplant recipients followed by Skype 11. This is a patient population selected for having survived to the inception of our telehealth program, which may have been many years post-transplant, as opposed to survival in all comers from the time of transplant.…”

Advantages and limitations of virtual online consultations in a NHS acute trust: the VOCAL mixed-methods study

“…exploring issues of usability and acceptability). 45,[99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113] Many focus specifically on the clinical use of Skype, 91,[114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123] either on its own or in combination with other technologies [e.g. WhatsApp (WhatsApp Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA) messaging 124 or FaceTime 125,126 ].…”

Technology-Enhanced Consultations in Diabetes, Cancer, and Heart Failure: Protocol for the Qualitative Analysis of Remote Consultations (QuARC) Project (Preprint)

“…Across these studies, despite reported benefits (e.g. in terms of increased access for patients [9,[28][29][30] particularly those with complex needs, [31] patient and clinician satisfaction with the remote option, [23,[32][33][34][35] potential time/cost savings, [8,36,37] improvement in self-management skills, [38] and improved compliance to treatment and/or clinical outcomes [17,22,24,31,[39][40][41][42][43]) small sample sizes (e.g. five patients) and high losses to follow-up prevent any unqualified conclusion that remote consultations are 'effective'.…”