Evaluating the impact of a mobile oral telemedicine system on medical management and clinical outcomes of patients with complicated oral lesions in Botswana.
Mobile telemedicine, which involves the use of cellular phone telecommunications to facilitate exchange of information between parties in different locations to assist in the management of patients, has become increasingly popular, particularly in resource-limited settings. In Botswana, small studies of mobile telemedicine programs suggest access to these services positively affect patients, but these programs' impact is difficult to capture given limitations of baseline and comparative data. Our observational study uses each patient receiving mobile oral telemedicine services in Botswana as his/her own control to assess the impact of these services on his/her diagnosis and management plan. At month 5 of 12 total, preliminary analysis of eligible cases (n = 27) reveals management plan discordance between clinicians submitting cases and the specialist was 68.0% (17/25), suggesting that telemedicine can result in significant changes in management of patients.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Martha
M
Tesfalul
Ryan
R
Littman-Quinn
Cynthia
C
Antwi
Siphiwo
S
Ndlovu
Didintle
D
Motsepe
Motsholathebe
M
Phuthego
Boitumelo
B
Tau
Neo
N
Mohutsiwa-Dibe
Carrie
C
Kovarik
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001902:Botswana / Q000453:epidemiology; D040421:Cell Phone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019242:Oral Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult