title: Realtime teleconsultations versus face-to-face consultations in dermatology: immediate and six-month outcome.
abstract: We evaluated the outcome of both realtime teleconsultations and face-to-face consultations in dermatology. Forty-six patients were enrolled in an open controlled study. Twenty-nine patients (60%) answered the questionnaire sent to them after six months. Over the six-month follow-up, similar proportions of the two patient groups had visited a general practitioner or a specialist in the consulting hospital. At follow-up, overall patient satisfaction with the consultation, measured on a linear analogue scale (0-10), had fallen only slightly and to the same extent after both types of consultation, that is by 1.2 (SD 3.7) after realtime teleconsultations and by 1.4 (SD 4.5) after face-to-face consultations. The proportions of patients who would prefer the same mode of consultation for their next appointment had decreased from 83% to 50% in the realtime teleconsultation group and from 83% to 62% in the face-to-face consultation group. However, in neither group was the change significant. The study suggests that patient satisfaction with teleconsultation is well preserved after six months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. hakan.granlund@pp.fimnet.it
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Granlund
authors.forename: Carl-Johan
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Thoden
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019114:Remote Consultation; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric