Telehealth for Acute and Chronic Care Consultations
Totten, A. M., Hansen, R. N., et al. (2019).
Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, (Comparative Effectiveness Review No. 216. (Prepared by Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-2015-00009-I.) AHRQ Publication No. 19-EHC012-EF), 1-457.
This systematic review investigates the effectivenes of telehealth for provider-to-provider consultations for patients with chronic or acute health conditions. While this review includes a wide variety of health conditions and provider specialties, the following summary highlights conclusions related to speech-language pathology.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
1996 to May 2018
Comparative studies of any design (e.g., trials, cohort studies); Pre-post design studies
233
For patients with acute or chronic health conditions in the outpatient setting, the authors found moderate evidence of positive effects for telehealth consultations with a single specialty (e.g., speech-language pathology) on the patient's response to treatment. In the emergency care setting, the authors found low evidence that emergency telestroke care decreased the time to treatment; however, the decrease was not found to be statistically significant. Due to the diversity of healthcare settings, clinical diagnoses, and patient outcomes, the authors are unable to make a general statement about the clinical effectiveness of telehealth consultations; however, in specific situations (e.g., remote intensive care units, remote consultations in emergency care, remote consultations in outpatient care), telehealth consultations may improve access to care and may improve some clinical outcomes. Additional research using consistent measures and further research on the potential harms is needed.
