The Impact of Telehealthcare on the Quality and Safety of Care: A Systematic Overview
PLoS One
McLean, S., Sheikh, A., et al. (2013).
PLoS One, 8(8), e71238.
This systematic review investigates the impact of asynchronous and/or synchronous telehealthcare services on the quality and safety of care in various clinical populations.
Not stated
January 1997 to November 2011
Systematic reviews
80
Available research on tele-healthcare interventions vary in outcomes, target populations, and quality. One of the included reviews found that tele-rehabilitation for a variety of patients including stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, and speech and voice disorders demonstrated outcomes and drop-out rates similar to face-to-face rehabilitation, though long-term follow-up results were inconsistent. The authors of this review conclude that overall, "the evidence for favourable impacts on clinical endpoints is modest and measured over the short-term but it appears that tele-healthcare can improve outcomes in patients with more severe illness who have most to gain. Tele-healthcare also seems to be most successful where the intervention is integrated with education and intensive telemonitoring rather than via simple telephone support" (p. 8). Further research investigating cost-effectiveness and patient safety are needed.
