Background: Teleradiology is currently being explored to enhance services for patients seeking emergency neurosurgical diagnoses in Ontario, Canada.
Design: Systematic review of literature and cost-consequence analysis.
Data sources: Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects.
Methods: Studies published between 1950 and 2008 describing remote consultations for neurosurgical assessments were retrieved. Two reviewers selected studies through multi-staged content screening and extracted data.
Results 12 of 3765 studies met the inclusion criteria: two were randomized controlled trials and ten were case series. Teleradiology [88% (207/236)] and video-conferencing [89% (213/239] consultations produced higher diagnostic accuracy than telephone consultations [64% (150/235), p<0.001]. Savings varied by location and were based on avoided costs for ground and air transportation and hospitalization.
Conclusions: There is limited evidence of clinical benefit of teleradiology. Savings associated with reduction in patient transfer rates depend on transportation mode and may be attenuated by higher operational costs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30129 |
| Date | 30 November 2011 |
| Creators | Williams, Dinsie |
| Contributors | Laupacis, Andreas |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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