Doctor. University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch Hospital.
Research Officer and Data Analyst and Honorary Senior Research Fellow. University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch Hospital.
N Z Med J. 2022 Jun 10;135(1556):94-103.
Teleconsultation has been widely utilised during the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows clinicians to provide healthcare social distance restrictions. This study investigates its safety and limitations in different specialties and the possibility of incorporating telemedicine into future practice.
This was a qualitative study of 151 hospital-based specialists in New Zealand. An electronic questionnaire was sent via email addresses. These included participants' demography and their experience of using teleconsultation during the pandemic. The safety and suitability of teleconsultation were assessed with time efficiency, data security concerns, missed clinical information and specialist's ability to examine patients.
This study found that 92.7% of hospital-based specialists used teleconsultation during the pandemic. More specialists reported the efficiency was similar or greater with teleconsultation and most patients could be seen via teleconsultation appointments. Limitations of these were due to poor physical examination and poor non-verbal cues sensing. There is a general preference for physical consultation.
Teleconsultation is used widely across many specialties during the pandemic. Despite limitations identified with teleconsultations and preference for physical consultation, doctors are prepared to provide teleconsultations in the future beyond the pandemic. In appropriately selected patients, especially in non-procedural specialties, teleconsultation will have an increasing role in healthcare.
远程咨询在 COVID-19 大流行期间得到了广泛应用。它允许临床医生在保持社交距离的限制下提供医疗服务。本研究调查了它在不同专业中的安全性和局限性，以及将远程医疗纳入未来实践的可能性。
这是一项对新西兰 151 名医院专科医生的定性研究。通过电子邮件地址发送了电子问卷。这些问卷包括参与者的人口统计学资料以及他们在大流行期间使用远程咨询的经验。通过时间效率、数据安全问题、遗漏的临床信息以及专家检查患者的能力来评估远程咨询的安全性和适宜性。
本研究发现，92.7%的医院专科医生在大流行期间使用了远程咨询。更多的专家报告说，远程咨询的效率相似或更高，并且大多数患者可以通过远程咨询预约就诊。这些方法的局限性在于身体检查不佳和非言语暗示感知不佳。人们普遍倾向于进行物理咨询。
远程咨询在大流行期间在许多专业中得到了广泛应用。尽管远程咨询存在局限性，并且人们更喜欢进行物理咨询，但医生已准备好在大流行结束后提供远程咨询。在适当选择的患者中，特别是在非手术专业中，远程咨询将在医疗保健中发挥越来越重要的作用。
