The application of telehealth to remote and rural Australians with chronic neurological conditions

Abstract

Background: Patients with chronic disease in rural and remote regions endure limited access to specialised medicine. Telehealth has addressed this issue with demonstrable benefits such as a reduction in costs to patients.Aims: To explore the patient satisfaction of telehealth in Australia. Methods: Patients from all around Australia, including Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and even Western Australia were referred to a Sydney-based neurologist. After their initial face to face consultation, review consultations were performed by telehealth. All had chronic diseases (trigeminal neuralgia, facial pain or Parkinson disease) and received a standardised questionnaire comprising of demographics, satisfaction of technical aspects and quality of the consultation. The questionnaires were administered by the Practice Manager to remove observer bias.Results: Twenty-nine patient questionnaires were completed by 13 patients who had follow-up telehealth consultations. One hundred per cent of patients reported satisfaction with the overall telehealth experience and would use it again. All were satisfied with the specialist and the privacy. The majority were satisfied with the voice quality (86%), visual quality (79%), ease of connectivity (93%) and length of the consultation (97%). In total, they saved nearly $17 000 in travel costs and on average, each patient avoided 937 km and saved $550. Conclusion:Telehealth has proven to have multiple advantages, including improved access to healthcare, decreased costs, reduced inconvenience and improved management of chronic and complex conditions. The positive results advocate the use of telehealth for follow up of rural and remote patients with chronic disease.

‘They're getting a taste of our world’: A qualitative study of people with multiple sclerosis' experiences of accessing health care during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the Australian Capital Territory

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic has brought about a rapid increase in telehealth use in Australia and globally 33 . Prior to the pandemic, telehealth had been shown to be useful in the management of neurological conditions, 34 including MS 35 . The key benefits and limitations of telehealth identified by participants in our study align broadly with those in the literature and included safety, convenience and access, tempered by the inability to have a physical examination and difficulty communicating when unable to read a clinician's body language.…”

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic has brought about a rapid increase in telehealth use in Australia and globally. 33 Prior to the pandemic, telehealth had been shown to be useful in the management of neurological conditions, 34 including MS. 35 The key benefits and limitations of telehealth identified by participants in our study align broadly with those in the literature and included safety, convenience and access, tempered by the inability to have a physical examination and difficulty communicating when unable to read a clinician's body language. An MS health service in the UK that rapidly transitioned to online care in response to the pandemic reported both people with MS and clinicians found video consultations more effective than telephone consultations, citing eye contact and the opportunity to pick up subtle facial communication cues as important.…”

Telehealth Sustainability in a Neurosurgery Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“… 11 These factors are especially important for increasing access for rural and underserved communities. 12 Other benefits of TH include the ability to address time-sensitive medical issues quickly and fewer expensive follow-up visits and routine postoperative care. 4 , 13 , 14 A pilot study demonstrated that telemedicine can be effective in elective neurosurgery.…”

A systematic review of telehealth for the delivery of emergent neurosurgical care

“…The indications for use have expanded in recent years to include the full spectrum of neurosurgical care. 1–6 However, there still remains a relative lack of evidence-based data for the use of tele-communications for the management of patients with acute neurosurgical diagnoses or neurotrauma. 7 A wide variation exists in the distribution and availability of neurosurgeons across the USA and these geographic limitations often lead to lack of timely access to care in underserved areas.…”