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Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction

PURPOSE: Telehealth (TH) in Radiation Oncology at Townsville Cancer Centre (TCC) was implemented in July 2011 to provide cancer care closer to home to the regional and rural population. The aim of this study was to describe the service use and patient satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospec...

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Autores principales: Hamilton, Elizabeth, Van Veldhuizen, Ellie, Brown, Amy, Brennan, Sean, Sabesan, Sabe
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6293044/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30582017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctro.2018.11.005
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author Hamilton, Elizabeth
Van Veldhuizen, Ellie
Brown, Amy
Brennan, Sean
Sabesan, Sabe
author_facet Hamilton, Elizabeth
Van Veldhuizen, Ellie
Brown, Amy
Brennan, Sean
Sabesan, Sabe
author_sort Hamilton, Elizabeth
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: Telehealth (TH) in Radiation Oncology at Townsville Cancer Centre (TCC) was implemented in July 2011 to provide cancer care closer to home to the regional and rural population. The aim of this study was to describe the service use and patient satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective audit of records was conducted for patients treated at TCC between July 2011 and December 2015. Data included patient demographics, diagnosis and treatment. Results of a patient satisfaction survey were summarised through descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 1530 TH consultations were provided to 833 patients. 311 patient charts were audited (615 TH, 650 in-person, 151 phone consultations). Median distance from TCC to satellites was 327.3 km (21.6 to 1130.1). 71% were male and median age was 65 (23–94 years). Cancer diagnoses included prostate (32%), breast (12%) and head and neck (10%). 60% of patients underwent radiation therapy for curative intent, 22% palliative and 18% did not undergo treatment. 106 patients participated in the satisfaction survey (231 patients invited, response rate of 46%), with the overall positive response mainly attributed to advantages in travel and time savings. 54.7% of patients selected TH as their preference for future consultations, 34.9% indicated a mix of TH and in-person consultations, and only 1 patient (0.9%) indicating in-person only. CONCLUSION: TH enables the delivery of radiation oncology consultations to rural and regional patients, with an overall high level of patient satisfaction. Patients welcomed the model for benefits of travel and time savings. Future directions include engaging with specialist, rural medical staff and patients to maximize access.
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spelling pubmed-62930442018-12-21 Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction Hamilton, Elizabeth Van Veldhuizen, Ellie Brown, Amy Brennan, Sean Sabesan, Sabe Clin Transl Radiat Oncol Article PURPOSE: Telehealth (TH) in Radiation Oncology at Townsville Cancer Centre (TCC) was implemented in July 2011 to provide cancer care closer to home to the regional and rural population. The aim of this study was to describe the service use and patient satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective audit of records was conducted for patients treated at TCC between July 2011 and December 2015. Data included patient demographics, diagnosis and treatment. Results of a patient satisfaction survey were summarised through descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 1530 TH consultations were provided to 833 patients. 311 patient charts were audited (615 TH, 650 in-person, 151 phone consultations). Median distance from TCC to satellites was 327.3 km (21.6 to 1130.1). 71% were male and median age was 65 (23–94 years). Cancer diagnoses included prostate (32%), breast (12%) and head and neck (10%). 60% of patients underwent radiation therapy for curative intent, 22% palliative and 18% did not undergo treatment. 106 patients participated in the satisfaction survey (231 patients invited, response rate of 46%), with the overall positive response mainly attributed to advantages in travel and time savings. 54.7% of patients selected TH as their preference for future consultations, 34.9% indicated a mix of TH and in-person consultations, and only 1 patient (0.9%) indicating in-person only. CONCLUSION: TH enables the delivery of radiation oncology consultations to rural and regional patients, with an overall high level of patient satisfaction. Patients welcomed the model for benefits of travel and time savings. Future directions include engaging with specialist, rural medical staff and patients to maximize access. Elsevier 2018-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC6293044/ /pubmed/30582017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctro.2018.11.005 Text en © 2018 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Hamilton, Elizabeth
Van Veldhuizen, Ellie
Brown, Amy
Brennan, Sean
Sabesan, Sabe
Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title_full Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title_fullStr Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title_full_unstemmed Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title_short Telehealth in radiation oncology at the Townsville Cancer Centre: Service evaluation and patient satisfaction
title_sort telehealth in radiation oncology at the townsville cancer centre: service evaluation and patient satisfaction
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6293044/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30582017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctro.2018.11.005
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