Elliott Alison M, Mhanni Aizeddin A, Marles Sandra L, Greenberg Cheryl R, Chudley Albert E, Nyhof Gwendolyne C, Chodirker Bernard N
WRHA Program of Genetics and Metabolism, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
J Genet Couns. 2012 Apr;21(2):337-44. doi: 10.1007/s10897-011-9406-5. Epub 2011 Oct 15.
Telehealth involves the use of information and communications technology to deliver health services to patients over distance. Canada is well suited to benefit from telehealth since many individuals live in remote, rural and isolated locations. Manitoba is the easternmost prairie province and MBTelehealth is an active Canadian program that currently has 105 sites in 73 communities. Although studies of patient satisfaction comparing telehealth to on-site clinical visits have been conducted, a comparative study of the types of genetics patients seen via these two modalities has not been performed previously. In this study we: (1) examined the uptake of telehealth in Genetics in Manitoba; (2) contrasted telehealth usage in Genetics with other clinical programs; and (3) performed a comparative study of the types of Genetics referrals seen in 2008 on-site versus via telehealth. Results indicate the uptake of telehealth is increasing and has made genetics outreach clinics unnecessary. The Program of Genetics and Metabolism is consistently one of the top ten utilizers of telehealth within the province. With respect to discipline, chi square analysis revealed the trends were not significantly different for on-site and telehealth encounters, with prenatal referrals being the most common and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer referrals being the least common. Referrals within each discipline varied depending on the need for fetal assessment and physical examination. Telehealth was utilized regularly for test results sessions across all disciplines.
远程医疗涉及利用信息和通信技术为患者远程提供医疗服务。加拿大很适合从远程医疗中受益，因为许多人生活在偏远、乡村和孤立地区。曼尼托巴省是最东部的草原省份，曼尼托巴省远程医疗是加拿大一个活跃的项目，目前在73个社区有105个站点。虽然已经进行了将远程医疗与现场临床就诊进行患者满意度比较的研究，但此前尚未对通过这两种方式就诊的遗传学患者类型进行比较研究。在本研究中，我们：(1) 调查了曼尼托巴省遗传学领域对远程医疗的接受情况；(2) 将遗传学领域的远程医疗使用情况与其他临床项目进行对比；(3) 对2008年现场就诊与通过远程医疗就诊的遗传学转诊类型进行了比较研究。结果表明，远程医疗的接受度在增加，使得遗传学外展诊所不再必要。遗传学与代谢项目一直是该省远程医疗的十大使用项目之一。就学科而言，卡方分析显示，现场就诊和远程医疗就诊的趋势没有显著差异，产前转诊最为常见，遗传性乳腺癌和卵巢癌转诊最不常见。每个学科内的转诊情况因胎儿评估和体格检查的需求而异。所有学科的检查结果会诊都经常使用远程医疗。
