NOORANI HZ, PICOT J; International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care. Meeting.

Annu Meet Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Meet. 2001; 17: abstract no. 173.

Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA). Ottawa, Canada;, Infotelmed Communications, Montreal, Canada

Introduction - The general study objective is to assess the impact of videoconferencing (VC) for provision of health care at a distance and continuing health and medical education in Canada.Methods - The eight-telehealth programs identified in this study comprise about 150 sites and are representative of a larger set of VC installations in Canada. This study involved a synthesis of responses to an in-depth survey of eight telehealth programs across Canada. The survey questions include those related to (i) timing and scope of VC applications, (ii) technical description, utilization, costs, effectiveness, and user assessment, and (iii) planning, training and education, policy, implementation, organizational and human resource issues, access, and patient confidentiality and privacy. A contemporary literature review was also undertaken.Results - VC for telehealth applications in Canada is in a state of transition between pilot project status to program status and undergoing expansion and enlargement. Network transmission methods and bandwidth are generally similar between programs. VC is used within programs for both patient-related sessions and education sessions. Cost estimates for VC equipment, tele-communications, and staff time vary by number of sites within the programs (which range from 3 sites to 61 sites) and type of application. VC is reported by the majority of the programs under study to have an impact on utilization of face-to-face assessments, timing of care, and certainty of diagnosis. Similarities are observed in the planning process between programs, though each program has chosen its own path to implementation. Though some respondents reported that training was provided in ethics, confidentiality and medico-legal issues, most of the training was concentrated on how to use the equipment and there was no training on communications aspects. Licensing and reimbursement issues are still unresolved within some of the study programs. Program respondents reported that telehealth and VC have both negative and positive unexpected results. 17 new staff positions have been created as a result of VC implementation. An increase in demand for VC is observed as a result of pilot project experiences.Conclusions - This VC sample portrays the same types of technical and broad, national issues found in telehealth programs in Canada and in the world today, and our findings have been borne out by the review of the literature undertaken for this study.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Canada
• Communication
• Data Collection
• Delivery of Health Care
• Humans
• Medically Underserved Area
• Patient Education as Topic
• Pilot Projects
• Remote Consultation
• Telemedicine
• Videoconferencing
• education
• methods
• hsrmtgs

Other ID:

• GWHSR0002826

UI: 102274505

From Meeting Abstracts