Marilynne Hebert

Telemedicine approach to screening for severe retinopathy of prematurity: a pilot study

PURPOSE To evaluate the use of remote reading of digital retinal photographs in the diagnosis of severe (referral-warranted) retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) during longitudinal screening for ROP. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal cohort study. SUBJECTS Forty-four consecutive premature infants at risk for ROP. METHODS All infants were examined longitudinally, over a series of examinations, by indirect ophthalmoscopy (gold standard) and digital photography using the RetCam-120 Digital Retinal Camera (Massie Research Laboratories Inc., Dublin, CA) equipped with an ROP lens. Images were stored and read remotely by a masked reader. Referral-warranted ROP was defined as ROP in zone 1, the presence of plus disease or the presence of any stage 3 ROP. We determined whether and when referral-warranted ROP was diagnosed for each eye, of each infant, on each examination, during the course of each of the infants screening. RESULTS Severe (referral-warranted) ROP was diagnosed in 23 eyes by indirect ophthalmoscopy during their series of examinations. Digital photography had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 96% in detecting referral-warranted ROP. The positive predictive value of digital photography was 92%, and the negative predictive value was 100%. In 87% of eyes, referral-warranted ROP was diagnosed by digital photography before or at the same time as indirect ophthalmoscopy. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal remote reading of digital photographs using the RetCam-120 system has excellent specificity and sensitivity in detecting referral-warranted ROP. This pilot study has shown that remote reading of digital photographs has promise for telemedicine strategies in ROP screening.

Stakeholder readiness for telehomecare: implications for implementation.

Numerous pilot studies have demonstrated that telehomecare technology may improve client outcomes through timely intervention and health crises prevention, thereby reducing return visits to hospitals and physician offices. Although the potential of telehomecare to increase access to services and improve quality of care and health outcomes is recognized, expectations for its widespread adoption have not been realized. Factors affecting diffusion of innovations include, among other things, perceptions of the technology, organizational characteristics, and communication. These require further exploration for telehealth applications because evidence alone will not automatically produce large-scale conversions in practice. This 12-month study was designed to assess the readiness of clients, health care professionals, and organizations to adopt telehomecare services for adult diabetic clients within the Calgary Health Region. A qualitative approach was used to collect data through focus groups with clients and home care nurses along with interviews with family physicians and key informants responsible for planning and resource allocation in diabetic homecare and telehealth programs. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed for themes, which were categorized with respect to their effect on quality of care (including structure, process or outcome of care), including those related to the individual client, the health care provider, and the organization as a whole. The study findings identified differences in stakeholder conceptions of the technology, including common themes among clients, providers, and organizations. Implications of study results for developing a strategy to incorporate telehomecare into routine community care are discussed.

What constitutes success in telehealth

Before telehealth applications can be judged, there must be some general understanding about what constitutes success. At first sight it seems that defining success in a telehealth application should be relatively easy: a successful application is one that produces high-quality care at low cost. However, the calculation of cost requires some care, since it depends on assuming a particular financial perspective (the patients, the health-careproviders, or societys) and is meaningless without a statement of the workload being handled. Other factors include the context in which the service is being delivered. Ultimately, the political imperative may override any rational judgement of success.

Telemedicine in the intensive care unit environment— A survey of the attitudes and perspectives of critical care clinicians

PURPOSE This study was conducted to assess the preimplementation knowledge and perceptions of intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians regarding the ability of telemedicine in the ICU environment (Tele-ICU) to address challenges resulting from the shortages of experienced critical care human resources and the drive to improve quality of care. METHODS An online survey was administered to clinicians from a Canadian multisite critical care department. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were undertaken to identify key positive and negative themes. RESULTS The overall self-rated knowledge about Tele-ICU was low, with significant uncertainty particularly related to the novelty of the technology, lack of widespread existing implementations, and insufficient education. A significant degree of skepticism was expressed regarding the ability of Tele-ICU to address the challenges of staff shortages and quality of care. CONCLUSIONS Significant uncertainty and skepticism were expressed by critical care clinicians regarding the ability of Tele-ICU to address the challenges of human resource limitation and the delivery of quality care. This suggests the need for further research and education of system impact beyond patient outcomes related to this new technology.

A National Education Strategy To Develop Nursing Informatics Competencies

Advances in the sophistication of information and communication technologies offer nursing practitioners opportunities for better information management, more complete documentation of their work, and knowledge development to support evidence-based nursing practice. However, a nursing culture that recognizes and adopts the contributions of technology to practice is required to take advantage of these opportunities. The nature of this change suggests a shift in emphasis from specialists in Nursing Informatics (NI) to NI being integrated into all four domains of nursing practice. The magnitude of change required on individual, organizational and professional levels points to the need for Nursing Informatics education strategies on a national level. Recognizing the role and history of NI specialists, defining NI and the required NI competencies are necessary first steps in developing such a plan. Expanding and adapting the educational infrastructure required to support this initiative follows. A working committee at the national level with representatives from a number of stakeholder groups is currently working on a National Nursing Informatics Project to address these issues. This article summarizes key points of an initial discussion paper.

Successes and challenges in a field-based, multi-method study of home telehealth

We are conducting a three-year study of telehealth in 11 home care offices that serve rural clients in Alberta. Three hundred and twenty palliative home care clients are being recruited to participate in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to answer three questions about the use of video-phones and their effect on symptom management, quality of life and cost, as well as readiness to use the technology. Both successes and challenges have been identified in three main areas: technology, people/organizational issues and study design. Maintaining study integrity has been the key factor in decision making, as adjustments from the original proposal are made. It is already clear that field-based RCTs are feasible, but require commitment and flexibility on the part of researchers and community partners to work through the study implementation.

Potential and readiness for video-visits in rural palliative homecare: results of a multi-method study in Canada

We compared conventional palliative homecare visits and a combination of conventional and home telehealth ‘video-visits’ with respect to symptom management and quality of life. Participants were recruited from 11 rural communities in Alberta and randomized to the treatment or control groups, remaining in the study for 8 weeks. Although we planned to recruit 200 clients over two years, only 44 clients participated. Factors contributing to low recruitment included the introduction of new service delivery models and changes in the home care environment. No significant differences were found between the groups in measures of symptom management and quality of life. Compared to the home care nurses, clients generally indicated a higher level of readiness to use the technology. The study suggested that videophone technology would probably not be adopted for palliative home care in the population that was studied although it might be considered for other applications in the management of chronic illnesses.

A Survey of Rounding Practices in Canadian Adult Intensive Care Units

Objective To describe rounding practices in Canadian adult Intensive Care Units (ICU) and identify opportunities for improvement. Design Mixed methods design. Cross sectional survey of Canadian Adult ICUs (n = 180) with purposefully sampled follow-up interviews (n = 7). Measurements and Main Results Medical directors representing 111 ICUs (62%) participated in the survey. Rounding practices varied across ICUs with the majority reporting the use of interprofessional rounds (81%) that employed an open (94%) and collaborative (86%) approach, occurred at the patient’s bedside (82%), and started at a standard time (79%) and standard location (56%). Most participants reported that patients (83%) and family members (67%) were welcome to attend rounds. Approximately half of ICUs (48%) used tools to facilitate rounds. Interruptions during rounds were reported to be common (i.e., ≥1 interruption for ≥50% of patients) in 46% of ICUs. Four themes were identified from qualitative analysis of participant responses to open-ended survey questions and interviews: multidisciplinarity, patient and family involvement, factors influencing productivity, and teaching and learning. Conclusions There is considerable variation in current rounding practices in Canadian medical/surgical ICUs. Opportunities exist to improve ICU rounds including ensuring the engagement of essential participants, clearly defining participant roles, establishing a standardized approach to the rounding process, minimizing interruptions, modifying the role of teaching, utilizing a structured rounding tool, and developing a metric for measuring rounding quality.

Experience with home telehealth to support disease management in teenagers with asthma

We explored the role of home telehealth in teenagers’ asthma management. Six female teenagers were identified at the asthma clinic of the Alberta Childrens Hospital. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the teenagers, their parents and their health care providers before and after they used a home unit to report peak flow and adherence to asthma self-management plans. The equipment was used for three months. Using social cognitive theory allowed five themes to be identified: usability of technology, using technology, technology and personal factors, technology and environmental factors, and technology and behavioural factors. The unsuccessful experience with peak flow data transmission suggested that testing the usability of an approved technology with a particular group of patients is important. Disease status, self-efficacy and asthma management behaviour prior to using the technology, as well as access to healthcare facilities, all seem likely to influence the role of technology in disease management.