Patient cost-benefits of realtime teledermatology--a comparison of data from Northern Ireland and New Zealand.
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Date
2000-06-12
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Abstract
As part of a randomized controlled trial of the costs and benefits of realtime teledermatology in comparison with conventional face to face appointments patients were asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of their consultation One hundred and nine patients took part in an initial teledermatology consultation and 94 in a face to face consultation The proportion of patients followed up by the dermatologist was almost the same after teledermatology 24 as after a hospital appointment 26 and for similar reasons Two hundred and three questionnaires were completed after the first visit and a further 20 after subsequent visits Patients seen by teledermatology at their own health centre travelled an average of 12 km whereas those who attended a conventional clinic travelled an average of 271 km The telemedicine group spent an average of 51 min attending the appointment compared with 4 3 h for those seen at the hospital The results of the present study as in a similar study conducted in Northern Ireland show that the economic benefits of teledermatology favour the patient rather than the health care system