Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 17;24(5):e33507.
doi: 10.2196/33507.

A Teleconsultation Device, Consult Station, for Remote Primary Care: Multisite Prospective Cohort Study

Géraldine Falgarone  1   2 , Guilhem Bousquet  1   3 , Arnaud Wilmet  4 , Albert Brizio  4 , Valérie Faure  4 , Celestin Guillouet  4 , Franck Baudino  4 , Isabelle Roque  5 , Samuel Mayol #  6 , Frederic Pamoukdjian #  1   7
Affiliations

A Teleconsultation Device, Consult Station, for Remote Primary Care: Multisite Prospective Cohort Study

Géraldine Falgarone et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine technology is a growing field, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consult Station (Health for Development) is the first telemedicine device enabling completely remote medical consultations, including the concurrent collection of clinical parameters and videos.

Objective: Our aim was to collect data on the multisite urban and suburban implementation of the Consult Station for primary care and assess its contribution to health care pathways in areas with a low density of medical services.

Methods: In a proof-of-concept multisite prospective cohort study, 2134 consecutive patients had teleconsultations. Consultation characteristics were analyzed from both the patient and practitioner perspective.

Results: In this study, the main users of Consult Station were younger women consulting for low-severity seasonal infections. Interestingly, hypertension, diabetes, and preventive medical consultations were almost absent, while they accounted for almost 50% of consultations with a general practitioner (GP). We showed that for all regions where the Consult Station was implemented, the number of consultations increased as GP density decreased. The study of practitioner characteristics showed GPs from metropolitan areas are motivated to work with this device remotely, with a high level of technology acceptability.

Conclusions: The multisite implementation of Consult Station booths is suitable for primary care and could also address the challenge of "medical deserts." In addition, further studies should be performed to evaluate the possible contribution of Consult Station booths to limiting work absenteeism.

Keywords: absenteeism from work; consultation; cost-benefit; general practice; health care system; primary care; proof-of-concept; remote medical consultation; telemedicine; telemedicine booth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: AW, VF, AB, CG, and FB are funded by Health for Development (H4D). GF, GB, IR, SM, and FP have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Implementation of Consult Station booths according to general practitioner density in France (left panel) and in the Île-de-France region (ie, Paris and its suburbs; right panel).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot of the number of teleconsultations according to (A) GP density or (B) LPA. GP: general practitioner; LPA: localized potential accessibility.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fortney JC, Burgess JF, Bosworth HB, Booth BM, Kaboli PJ. A re-conceptualization of access for 21st century healthcare. J Gen Intern Med. 2011 Nov;26 Suppl 2:639–47. doi: 10.1007/s11606-011-1806-6. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/21989616 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Flodgren G, Rachas A, Farmer AJ, Inzitari M, Shepperd S. Interactive telemedicine: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Sep 07;9(9):CD002098. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002098.pub2. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/26343551 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chambers R, Schmid M. Making technology-enabled health care work in general practice. Br J Gen Pract. 2018 Mar;68(668):108–109. doi: 10.3399/bjgp18X694877. https://bjgp.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=29472202 68/668/108 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mair F, Peterkin G, Laing A, Ferguson J, Fraser S. Feasibility of a telemedicine 'booth' for supporting remote care in Scotland. J Telemed Telecare. 2008;14(3):127–9. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2008.003007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cui F, Ma Q, He X, Zhai Y, Zhao J, Chen B, Sun D, Shi J, Cao M, Wang Z. Implementation and application of telemedicine in China: cross-sectional study. JMIR mHealth uHealth. 2020 Oct 23;8(10):e18426. doi: 10.2196/18426. https://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/10/e18426/ v8i10e18426 - DOI - PMC - PubMed