Abstract
BackgroundThe use of information technology, including internet- and telephone-based resources, is becoming an alternative and supporting method of providing many forms of services in a healthcare and health management setting. Telephone consultations provide a promising alternative and supporting service for face-to-face general practice care. The aim of this review is to utilize a systematic review to collate evidence on the use of telephone consultation as an alternative to face-to-face general practice visits.MethodsA systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform was performed using the search terms for the intervention (telephone consultation) and the comparator (general practice). Systematic reviews and randomized control trials that examined telephone consultation compared to normal face-to-face consultation in general practice were included in this review. Papers were reviewed, assessed for quality (Cochrane Collaboration’s ‘Risk of bias’ tool) and data extracted and analysed.ResultsTwo systematic reviews and one RCT were identified and included in the analysis.The RCT (N = 388) was of patients requesting same-day appointments from two general practices and patients were randomized to a same-day face-to-face appointment or a telephone call back consultation. There was a reduction in the time spent on consultations in the telephone group (1.5 min (0.6 to 2.4)) and patients in the telephone arm had 0.2 (0 to 0.3) more follow-up consultations than the face-to-face group.One systematic review focused on telephone consultation and triage on healthcare use, and included one RCT and one other observational study that examined telephone consultations. The other systematic review focused on patient access and included one RCT and four observational studies that examined telephone consultations. Both systematic reviews provided narrative interpretations of the evidence and concluded that telephone consultations provided an appropriate alternative to telephone consultations and reduced practice work load.ConclusionThere is a lack of high level evidence for telephone consultations in a GP setting; however, current evidence suggests that telephone consultations as an alternative to face-to-face general practice consultations offers an appropriate option in certain settings.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42015025225
Highlights
The use of information technology, including internet- and telephone-based resources, is becoming an alternative and supporting method of providing many forms of services in a healthcare and health management setting
general practice (GP) telephone consultations are currently being used in countries like the United Kingdom (UK), the Unites States of America (US), Denmark and Switzerland as an alternative to a face-to-face GP consultation and it has been suggested to provide timely care that is accessible [4–6]
Included studies Of the three studies identified for inclusion, one study was a randomized control trial (RCT) and two studies were systematic reviews that included the identified RCT in addition to other observational studies [13–15]
Summary
The use of information technology, including internet- and telephone-based resources, is becoming an alternative and supporting method of providing many forms of services in a healthcare and health management setting. Telephone consultations provide a promising alternative and supporting service for face-to-face general practice care. Telephone consultation provides a promising alternative to face-to-face general practice (GP) care [1]. Varying types of telemedicine and telephone consultations are available for GP consultations, specialist consultations and disease management in a number of countries. GP telephone consultations are currently being used in countries like the United Kingdom (UK), the Unites States of America (US), Denmark and Switzerland as an alternative to a face-to-face GP consultation and it has been suggested to provide timely care that is accessible [4–6]. In Australia, telemedicine is currently available through a number of Medicare Benefits Schedule items for specialist services and disease management including videoconferencing by a specialist, consultant physician, telepsychiatry, consultant occupational physician, pain medicine physician, palliative medicine physician or neurosurgeon [7]. Telemedicine is currently available worldwide for other services such as teleradiology, behaviour management support (smoking cessation), or remote monitoring for cardiovascular disease [1]
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