The point-of-referral barrier--a factor in the success of telehealth.
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Date
2001-12-18
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Abstract
A feasibility study was carried out to test the hypothesis that for an effective telehealth service a full time coordinator is required to act as a single point of contact for consultation requests By shifting the responsibility for telepaediatrics from the referrer to the provider the telehealth process becomes equally or more attractive as the conventional alternative Preliminary results showed that within six months telepaediatric activity increased to an average of 8 h per month Not only did certain health services become more accessible to children and their families in remote areas of Queensland but significant savings were also made At least 12 patient transfers were avoided to and from the tertiary facility with an estimated minimum saving of 18 000 to the health care provider