Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan HYH(1), Cheung YM(2), Kwong WHS(2), Lau CKA(3), Mak HKC(4), CHEUNG HL(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Cardiothoracic Surgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital (2) Specialist outpatient clinic, Queen Elizabeth Hospital (3) Information Technology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital (4) Neurosurgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Introduction :
Due to COVID-19 episode, hospital visit for patient should be minimized if possible. With advancement in the digital and communication technologies, we now have an opportunity to provide a remote health care consultation service in specialist outpatient clinic via HA computer system and patients' mobile phones.
Objectives :
To minimize both the number and duration of hospital visits in our patients. To allow more flexibility while waiting for doctor consultation as patient can stay at home instead of waiting area in SOPD. Formal SOPD consultation should be carried out without any compromise in the quality and safety.
Methodology :
Between June 2021 and December 2022, patients are recruited in QEH SOPD of CTS department for the telehealth service. All patients need installation of the HA Go app in the mobile phones. Consultation appointments are scheduled afterward. Clinic staff begins with the checking of patient identity at the day of consultation and then connection between the HA computer system (Telehealth app on iPad) and patient's mobile (HA Go app) is established. Doctor finish the consultation via video conference with the patient. Follow up actions and future investigations can be ordered which are subsequently sent to patient via HA Go app.
Result & Outcome :
Total 3893 patients were recruited and 218 SOPD consultations using telehealth service were carried out successfully. This is shown to be feasible and safe. Questionnaire for patient satisfaction achieved 100% positive result. Limitations for using telehealth service include network instability, unsatisfactory mobile performance, deficient knowledge for patient using the mobile app and incapability for performing physical examination. More promotion of telehealth service is required to allow more patients to be benefited from this service in the future. Overall, telehealth service helps to alleviate the long queue time issue in SOPD.
