IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i23p15999-d988998.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Telemedicine Visits in a Pediatric Gastroenterology Service in the Context of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Adroher Mas

    (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
    Center for Research in Health and Economics, Pompeu Fabra University (CRES-UPF), 08002 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Celia Calvo Aroca

    (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
    Center for Research in Health and Economics, Pompeu Fabra University (CRES-UPF), 08002 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Ricard Casadevall Llandrich

    (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Francesc López Seguí

    (Center for Research in Health and Economics, Pompeu Fabra University (CRES-UPF), 08002 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Javier Martin Carpi

    (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Francesc García-Cuyàs

    (Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Background: During the first months of COVID-19, the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition service of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, a leading pediatric center in Spain, introduced a new model of non-face-to-face care. Objective: To evaluate the impact of telephone consultations compared to those conducted face-to-face on healthcare utilization. Methodology: Two main indicators of effectiveness are used: the degree of resolution (percentage of first telemedicine visits that did not generate any new visits in the following 4 and 12 months) and the average number of subsequent visits. A distinction was made between visits for general pathologies (less complex) and those for pathologies treated in monographic consultations (chronic or complex pathologies). Effectiveness at 4 and 12 months was also compared. Results: After 4 months from the first visit, the degree of resolution is lower in the first telemedicine visits than in face-to-face visits for both general pathologies and those of monographic agendas for chronic and complex pathologies. After twelve months, the first general telemedicine visits are less resolute than face-to-face visits, while the resolution rate is the same for chronic and complex pathology visits. Each telemedicine visit generates on average more visits than face-to-face visits. In the short term, 133.4% more in the case of general visits and 51.4% more in the case of chronic and complex visits. In the long term, general telemedicine visits generate 57.31% more visits, while no statistically significant difference is observed between chronic and complex face-to-face and telemedicine visits. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the resolution capacity of the non-face-to-face model in pediatric care in the pandemic context is generally lower and generates more successive visits than the face-to-face model. This lower performance of the telemedicine model should be counterbalanced with its advantages.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Adroher Mas & Celia Calvo Aroca & Ricard Casadevall Llandrich & Francesc López Seguí & Javier Martin Carpi & Francesc García-Cuyàs, 2022. "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Telemedicine Visits in a Pediatric Gastroenterology Service in the Context of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-7, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15999-:d:988998
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15999/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15999/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nkiruka D Eze & Céu Mateus & Tiago Cravo Oliveira Hashiguchi, 2020. "Telemedicine in the OECD: An umbrella review of clinical and cost-effectiveness, patient experience and implementation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-24, August.
    2. Francesc López Seguí & Jordi Franch Parella & Xavier Gironès García & Jacobo Mendioroz Peña & Francesc García Cuyàs & Cristina Adroher Mas & Anna García-Altés & Josep Vidal-Alaball, 2020. "A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-9, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabrizio Striani & Claudio Rocco, 2022. "Analisi sistematica di servizi di telemedicina a supporto della morbilità: tecnologie e prospettive," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(121), pages 63-90.
    2. Karolina Kamecka & Calogero Foti & Łukasz Gawiński & Marek Matejun & Anna Rybarczyk-Szwajkowska & Marek Kiljański & Marek Krochmalski & Remigiusz Kozłowski & Michał Marczak, 2022. "Telemedicine Technologies Selection for the Posthospital Patient Care Process after Total Hip Arthroplasty," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Vainieri, Milena & Vandelli, Andrea & Benvenuti, Stefano Casini & Bertarelli, Gaia, 2023. "Tracking the digital health gap in elderly: A study in Italian remote areas," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Antonio Lopez-Villegas & César Leal-Costa & Mercedes Perez-Heredia & Irene Villegas-Tripiana & Daniel Catalán-Matamoros, 2021. "Knowledge Update on the Economic Evaluation of Pacemaker Telemonitoring Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Janneke F M Scheerm & Alaa H Qari & Harmen Bijwaard & Laura Swinckels & Nicolas Giraudeau & Berno van Meijel & Rodrigo Mariño, 2024. "A Systematic Umbrella Review of the Effects of Teledentistry on Costs and Oral-Health Outcomes," Post-Print hal-04524687, HAL.
    6. Josep Vidal-Alaball & Francesc López Seguí & Josep Lluís Garcia Domingo & Gemma Flores Mateo & Gloria Sauch Valmaña & Anna Ruiz-Comellas & Francesc X Marín-Gomez & Francesc García Cuyàs, 2020. "Primary Care Professionals’ Acceptance of Medical Record-Based, Store and Forward Provider-to-Provider Telemedicine in Catalonia: Results of a Web-Based Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-11, June.
    7. Janneke F. M. Scheerman & Alaa H. Qari & Benoit Varenne & Harmen Bijwaard & Laura Swinckels & Nicolas Giraudeau & Berno van Meijel & Rodrigo Mariño, 2024. "A Systematic Umbrella Review of the Effects of Teledentistry on Costs and Oral-Health Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-24, March.
    8. Potluka, Oto & Švecová, Lenka & Kubát, Viktor & Liskova-Nedbalova, Veronika & Nečas, Tomáš & Lhotská, Lenka & Hejdová, Kristýna, 2023. "Evaluation of eHealth assistance in-hospital care for improved quality of life in patients," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Katarzyna Weronika Binder-Olibrowska & Magdalena Agnieszka Wrzesińska & Maciek Godycki-Ćwirko, 2022. "Is Telemedicine in Primary Care a Good Option for Polish Patients with Visual Impairments Outside of a Pandemic?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-21, May.
    10. María Asunción Vicente & César Fernández & Mercedes Guilabert & Irene Carrillo & Jimmy Martín-Delgado & José Joaquín Mira & Prometeo173 Working Group, 2022. "Patient Engagement Using Telemedicine in Primary Care during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Trial Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-14, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15999-:d:988998. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.