Russell Katie W, Saffle Jeffrey R, Theurer Louanna, Cochran Amalia L
Department of Surgery, University of Utah, 30 North 1900 East, SOM 3B110, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA.
Department of Surgery, University of Utah, 30 North 1900 East, SOM 3B110, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA; Department of Telemedicine, University of Utah Health Care, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Am J Surg. 2015 Dec;210(6):1037-42; discussion 1042-4. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2015.08.003. Epub 2015 Sep 14.
Many Americans have limited access to specialty burn care, and telemedicine has been proposed as a means to address this disparity. However, many telemedicine programs have been founded on grant support and then fail once the grant support expires. Our objective was to demonstrate that a burn telemedicine program can be financially viable.
This retrospective review from 2005 to 2014 evaluated burn telemedicine visits and financial reimbursement during and after a Technology Opportunities Program grant to a regional burn center.
In 2005, we had 12 telemedicine visits, which increased to 458 in 2014. In terms of how this compares to in-person clinic visits, we saw a consistent increase in telemedicine visits as a percentage of total clinic visits from .26% in 2005 to 14% in 2014. Median telemedicine reimbursement has been equivalent to in-person visits.
Specialty telemedicine programs can successfully transition from grant-funded enterprises to self-sustaining. The availability of telemedicine services allows access to specialty expertise in a large and sparsely populated region without imposing an undue financial burden.
许多美国人获得专科烧伤护理的机会有限，远程医疗被提议作为解决这一差距的一种方式。然而，许多远程医疗项目是基于赠款支持建立的，一旦赠款支持到期就会失败。我们的目标是证明烧伤远程医疗项目在财务上是可行的。
这项对2005年至2014年的回顾性研究评估了一个地区烧伤中心在获得技术机会项目赠款期间及之后的烧伤远程医疗就诊情况和财务报销情况。
2005年，我们有12次远程医疗就诊，到2014年增加到458次。就与面对面门诊就诊的比较而言，我们发现远程医疗就诊占总门诊就诊的百分比从2005年的0.26%持续增加到2014年的14%。远程医疗报销中位数与面对面就诊相当。
专科远程医疗项目可以成功地从由赠款资助的企业过渡到自我维持。远程医疗服务的可获得性使得在人口众多且分布稀疏的地区能够获得专科专业知识，而不会带来过度的财务负担。
