Teleconsultations: who uses them and how?

Abstract

A literature survey was carried out to identify papers describing teleconsulting applications. From 1259 potentially relevant articles identified through Medline, 128 articles were selected for review. The majority of these had been published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare (50 articles, or 39%). We analysed different user groups, equipment and implementation issues, and the type of connections. In 101 studies (79%) the teleconsultations were between doctors, in 11 they were between patient and doctor, in seven between patient and nurse, and in nine between nurse and doctor. Studies of consultations between patients and health-care professionals were thus quite rare. Surgery was the most common specialty in which teleconsultation was described. The teleconsultations were realtime or mainly realtime in 72% of articles. In 39% of studies the primary focus was on videoconferencing. The most common means of connection was by ISDN digital lines (38%). There were very few mentions of how to ensure data protection or to maintain patient confidentiality. We conclude that, for the majority of teleconsultation needs, asynchronous communication is the most flexible and cost-effective approach. Realtime videoconferencing can be justified only in particular circumstances.

Swedish District Nurses� Attitudes to Implement Information and Communication Technology in Home Nursing

“…Therefore, research is important to determine impacts, benefits, and limitations in developing feasible solutions for home telehealth. According to a review study [ 5 ] describing the use of teleconsulting applications, the most frequent teleconsultings were between doctors in real time, and the most infrequent one was between the nurse and patient. The rapid growth of technical and scientific knowledge in society has also generated many changes in health and nursing care.…”

Teleoftalmologia como auxílio diagnóstico nas doenças infecciosas e inflamatórias oculares

“…A forma assíncrona é considerada mais eficiente que a forma síncrona (tempo real) para a análise de figuras estáticas, como as deste estudo, visto que imagens estáticas apresentam maior qualidade e resolução que imagens em movimento, transmitidas em tempo real, permitindo, assim, uma maior acurácia diagnóstica 6,38 . Não exige presença simultânea das partes envolvidas e, segundo alguns estudos, os custos de transmissão são inferiores 39,40 .…”

Designing and Redesigning Medical Telecare Services

“…• Is there adetailedpredefinedschemefor recording patientc ompliancei nformation, e.g.w hatw ill be recorded, when andwhere? • Will the service takeplace in asynchronous or in an asynchronous manner [ 58,78]? • Will the exchangedmessagecontain text rather than images [79]?…”