Assessment of a primary care-based telemonitoring intervention for home care patients with heart failure and chronic lung disease. The TELBIL study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Telemonitoring technology offers one of the most promising alternatives for the provision of health care services at the patient's home. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a primary care-based telemonitoring intervention on the frequency of hospital admissions.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>A primary care-based randomised controlled trial will be carried out to assess the impact of a telemonitoring intervention aimed at home care patients with heart failure (HF) and/or chronic lung disease (CLD). The results will be compared with those obtained with standard health care practice. The duration of the study will be of one year. Sixty patients will be recruited for the study. In-home patients, diagnosed with HF and/or CLD, aged 14 or above and with two or more hospital admissions in the previous year will be eligible.</p> <p>For the intervention group, telemonitoring will consist of daily patient self-measurements of respiratory-rate, heart-rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, weight and body temperature. Additionally, the patients will complete a qualitative symptom questionnaire daily using the telemonitoring system. Routine telephone contacts will be conducted every fortnight and additional telephone contacts will be carried out if the data received at the primary care centre are out of the established limits. The control group will receive usual care. The primary outcome measure is the number of hospital admissions due to any cause that occurred in a period of 12 months post-randomisation. The secondary outcome measures are: duration of hospital stay, hospital admissions due to HF or CLD, mortality rate, use of health care resources, quality of life, cost-effectiveness, compliance and patient and health care professional satisfaction with the new technology.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The results of this study will shed some light on the effects of telemonitoring for the follow-up and management of chronic patients from a primary care setting. The study may contribute to enhance the understanding of alternative modes of health care provision for medically unstable elderly patients, who bear a high degree of physical and functional deterioration.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN: <a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN89041993">ISRCTN89041993</a></p

Healthcare professional acceptance of telemonitoring for chronic care patients in primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A pilot experimentation of a telemonitoring system for chronic care patients is conducted in the Bilbao Primary Care Health Region (Basque Country, Spain). It seems important to understand the factors related to healthcare professionals’ acceptance of this new technology in order to inform its extension to the whole healthcare system.</p> <p>This study aims to examine the psychosocial factors related to telemonitoring acceptance among healthcare professionals and to apply a theory-based instrument.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A validated questionnaire, based on an extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), was distributed to a total of 605 nurses, general practitioners and paediatricians. Logistic regression analysis was performed to test the theoretical model. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A response rate of 44.3% was achieved. The original TAM model was good at predicting intention to use the telemonitoring system. However, the extended model, that included other theoretical variables, was more powerful. Perceived Usefulness, Compatibility, and Facilitators were the significant predictors of intention. A detailed analysis showed that intention to use telemonitoring was best predicted by healthcare professionals’ beliefs that they would obtain adequate training and technical support and that telemonitoring would require important changes in their practice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The extended TAM explained a significant portion of the variance in healthcare professionals' intention to use a telemonitoring system for chronic care patients in primary care. The perception of facilitators in the organisational context is the most important variable to consider for increasing healthcare professionals’ intention to use the new technology.</p