PP170 Health Impact Assessment Of Teleradiology Programs In Disadvantaged Areas

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Within the Home Radiology service of the Piedmont Region - R@dhome (1) - it was decided to employ a mobile radiological service to allow minor radiological procedures to be conducted in rural areas. Cortemilia (average age of population 51.6 years, population over 65 years 33.6 percent) is situated in Piedmont (Langhe region) and it is about 40 kilometers, with bad roads, from the nearest hospital. For this reason it's important to optimize the potential offered by telemedicine. The purpose of R@dhome is to provide simple radiological services (ambulatory) to vulnerable patients in outpatient settings. The aim of this work was to implement an assessment, based on Health Impact Analysis (HIA) (2,3) criteria, of the health intervention provided by the R@dhome service.METHODS:From January 2016 to December 2016 the following were assessed: •number of patients examined in the local radiological ambulatory service•inhabitants opinions (using questionnaires)•General Practitioner, Pharmacist, Family nurse opinions (using semi-structured interviews)•stakeholder opinions (Mayor, local politicians, using semi-structured interviews)•number of cars and ambulances used for the transport of patients to the nearest hospital•number of patients who avoided transportation to the nearest hospital•pollutants PM10 (particle size 10) related to cars and ambulance traffic.RESULTS:Forty percent of people interviewed were more than 60 years old, 76 percent needed x-rays (in 2015), 96.8 percent considered it useful to have a closer x-ray service, only 42 percent had a driver's licence but preferred not to drive; GP's said that 50 percent of local patients had trouble reaching the hospital and that 30 percent of local patients need informal or formal care. From Januay to December 2016 we examined (mainly chest and bone x-rays) in 598 patients using as an alternative to private cars and ambulances the radiological mobile station, and the pollutant emissions were shown to be reduced by 85 percent.CONCLUSIONS:This study has provided a comprehensive HIA report which shows that the R@dhome intervention improves patient's QOL, reduces social costs, reduces the number of patients in the Hospital Radiology Department, reduces rate of hospitalization and pollution.