Abstract
INTRODUCTION:Europe currently has the highest proportion of older people in the world and is expected to maintain this leading position for the next 50 years. A teleradiology service for frail patients living at home or in nursing-homes (R@dhome), funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, has been operating from June 2013 to May 2015 (1). The goal was to offer, within the path of home care patients, radiologic care for fragile elderly patients (2). In this report of the study a secondary outcome was evaluated; the perceived quality for patients and caregivers undergoing home radiology.METHODS:The study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 136 patients; 71 cases and 65 controls. The perceived quality assessment was only performed among home inpatient group cases, at home or in nursing homes and not in the control group patients (who had treatment in a hospital). The assessment instrument was a semi-structured interview based on the benchmark system SERQUAL®. The identified dimensions of quality were: tangible aspects, reliability, responsiveness and empathy in a subpopulation of non-dementia patients. Eligible subjects were interviewed between May 2014 and May 2015.RESULTS:The percentage of satisfied patients, evaluated on the dimensions of perceived quality, was 97.7 percent. The main reasons given were: short waiting time, best comfort and safety, efficiency, operator's kindness and less need to travel for the treatment.CONCLUSIONS:R@dhome benefits are not limited to clinical or financial aspects but ethical, social and relational advantages have also been shown in this study (3). Given the fragility of the patients, positive results were mostly achieved by reducing the risk of trauma in transport between their home and the hospital.
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