title: Building a multicenter telehealth network to advance chronic disease management.
abstract: The use of telehealth solutions has proved to improve clinical management of chronic diseases, expand access to healthcare services and clinicians, and reduce healthcare-related costs. The project aims at improving Heart Failure (HF) management through the utilization of a Telemedicine and Personal Health Records systems that will assist HF specialist in Colombo, Sri Lanka to monitor and consult with remote HF patients. A telehealth network will be built at an international site that connects five remote telehealth clinics to a central clinic at a major University Hospital in Sri Lanka where HF specialists are located. In this study, 200 HF patients will be recruited for nine months, 100 patients will be randomly selected for the treatment group and the other 100 will be selected for the control group. Pre, mid, and post study surveys will be conducted to assess the efficacy and satisfaction levels of patients with both care models. Moreover, clinical outcomes will be collected to evaluate the impact of the intervention on the treatment patients compared to control patients. The research aims at enhancing Heart Failure management through eliminating current health challenges and healthcare-related financial burdens.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, United States.
authors.forename: Saif
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khairat
authors.affiliation: Gen. Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Namal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wijesinghe
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, United States.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolfson
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Treatment Inc, Canada.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simkus
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D017146:Models, Organizational; D013188:Sri Lanka; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*