Remote pediatric consultation in the inner city: Television or telephone?

E. Glazer, C. Marshall and N. Cunningham

American Journal of Public Health, 1978, vol. 68, issue 11, 1133-1135

Abstract: The results of this study suggest that nurse practitioners find telephone an acceptable substitute for television for those consultations concerned primarily with therapeutics. However, in the areas of diagnosis and overall patient management, television was generally preferred for several reasons: first, it was thought to be more useful for reassuring patients; second, it was preferred for diagnostic consultations and for orthopedics and psychiatry where the visual component of the remote consultation was considered indispensable; and finally, television consults could be videotaped and subsequently used for quality control, teaching, research, or as part of the patient's medical record. In this series, 35.7 per cent of television consults were taped. Television may have some disadvantages. It is cumbersome to move about, probably too expensive to have in every examination room, and therefore less convenient to use than a telephone. In addition, it is subject to technical difficulties which occur rarely with telephones in the United States. In this study, almost one-third (31.8 per cent) of all television consults encountered technical difficulties of one kind or another. The staff tolerated these problems very poorly, and their willingness to use the television in spite of these difficulties suggests their appreciation of the value of remote television consultation.

Date: 1978
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1978:68:11:1133-1135_5

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