Auret Kirsten, Pikora Terri, Pola Melissa
Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
Cancer Services, WA Country Health Service, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Intern Med J. 2022 Mar;52(3):451-457. doi: 10.1111/imj.15127.
Models of care that increase specialist medical services to regional or remote patients are being explored worldwide. Many of the models include telehealth (also called telemedicine or video-conferencing consultations) alone or in combination with traditional face-to-face clinic visits.
To report the experience of patients using telehealth consultation and costs associated with delivering the service in a Regional Cancer Centre over a 12-month period.
Patients attending a Great Southern haematology clinic between September 2018 and July 2019 were invited to complete a brief questionnaire about their demographic and diagnosis details. Those attending a telehealth clinic were invited to complete a Tele-Haematology Satisfaction Questionnaire and invited to participate in a face-to-face interview regarding their general experiences and thoughts related to telehealth and face-to-face consultations. Occasions of service costs and direct hospital expenses were provided by the central health service's telehealth office.
The use of telehealth alone or as part of a mixed model was acceptable and convenient for most patients. In addition, high levels of satisfaction were reported including improved access to specialist services, reduced travel time and an ease of use of the telehealth system. The total cost saving was A$308 per occasion of service.
The present study demonstrated that the model was effective in providing outpatient services and cost effective to the health service, while being experienced as a satisfactory model by patients.
全球都在探索为地区或偏远患者增加专科医疗服务的护理模式。许多模式单独或与传统面对面门诊相结合采用远程医疗（也称为远程医学或视频会议咨询）。
报告患者使用远程医疗咨询的体验以及在一个地区癌症中心提供该服务12个月期间的相关成本。
邀请2018年9月至2019年7月期间前往大南方血液学诊所就诊的患者填写一份关于其人口统计学和诊断细节的简短问卷。邀请参加远程医疗诊所的患者填写一份远程血液学满意度问卷，并邀请他们参加关于他们对远程医疗和面对面咨询的总体体验和想法的面对面访谈。中央卫生服务机构的远程医疗办公室提供了服务成本和直接医院费用的情况。
单独使用远程医疗或作为混合模式的一部分对大多数患者来说是可以接受且方便的。此外，报告的满意度较高，包括获得专科服务的机会增加、旅行时间减少以及远程医疗系统易于使用。每次服务节省的总成本为308澳元。
本研究表明，该模式在提供门诊服务方面有效，对卫生服务具有成本效益，同时患者认为这是一个令人满意的模式。
