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Review
. 2023 Jun;18(4):668-672.
doi: 10.1177/15589447211044783. Epub 2021 Sep 27.

Assessment of Telemedicine and Phone Consultation Effects on Rate of Hand Transfers to Trauma Centers and Specialty Services Referrals

John Bracey  1 , Sean Morell  1 , Mark Tait  1 , G Tom Frazier  1 , Theresa O Wyrick  1
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of Telemedicine and Phone Consultation Effects on Rate of Hand Transfers to Trauma Centers and Specialty Services Referrals

John Bracey et al. Hand (N Y). 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine consultation can increase patients' access to subspecialty care and decrease the number of unnecessary hospital transfers. In 2014, the Arkansas Hand Trauma Telemedicine Program (AHTTP) was established to extend specialized hand care throughout Arkansas. The purpose of this study is to assess whether transfers are affected when consultation with a hand specialist is performed by phone compared with using a live audiovisual consultation.

Methods: We reviewed data from the first year of the AHTTP. Data collection included type of consultation (telephone only or live audiovisual), need for transfer, and type of transfer (general orthopedic or hand specialist).

Results: In 2014, the first year of AHTTP there were 331 hand injuries identified; of those, 298 used the AHTTP with 195 (65%) using telemedicine and 103 (35%) using phone consultation only. The use of video when compared with phone consultation did not significantly affect the decision to transfer (P = .42) or alter the rate of transfer for general orthopedic or hand specialist care (P = .25).

Conclusions: The assessment of both phone and telemedicine modalities showed that there was no significant difference in transfer rates for either consultation, highlighting that communication with a hand surgeon was the key to accurate assessment of the need for transfer.

Keywords: hand injuries; hand telemedicine; hand transfers; hand trauma; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparison of local management and transfers of hand traumas that used phone or live video consults. Transfers were not significantly affected by modality of consult (P = .42).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Comparison of type of transfers, orthopedic or hand surgeon, that used live video or phone consultation: Transfer type was not significantly affected by the type of consultation: live video or phone with a P = .25.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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