Effect of Telehealth Interventions on Hospitalization Indicators: A Systematic Review

Overview

Journal Perspect Health Inf Manag

Specialties Health Services
Medical Informatics

Date 2016 Nov 16

PMID 27843425

Citations 8

Authors

Leila R Kalankesh

Faramarz Pourasghar

Lorraine Nicholson

Shamim Ahmadi

Mohsen Hosseini

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Telehealth has been defined as the remote delivery of healthcare services using information and communication technology. Where resource-limited health systems face challenges caused by the increasing burden of chronic diseases and an aging global population, telehealth has been advocated as a solution for changing and improving the paradigm of healthcare delivery to cope with these issues. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effect of telehealth interventions on two indicators: hospitalization rate and length of stay.

Materials And Methods: The reviewers searched the PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Springer electronic databases from January 2005 to November 2013. A search strategy was developed using a combination of the following search keywords: and Both randomized controlled trials and observational studies were included in the review. To be included in the review, articles had to be written in English. The results of study were compiled, reviewed, and analyzed on the basis of the review aims.

Results: This systematic review examined 22 existing studies with a total population of 19,086 patients. The effect of telehealth on all-cause hospitalization was statistically significant in 40 percent of the related studies, whereas it was not statistically significant in 60 percent. Similarly, the effect of telehealth on the all-cause length of stay was statistically significant in 36 percent of the studies and nonsignificant in 64 percent.

Conclusion: Considering the fact that hospitalization rate and length of stay can be confounded by factors other than telehealth intervention, studies examining the effect of the intervention on these indicators must take into account all other factors influencing them. Otherwise any judgment on the effect of telehealth on these indicators cannot be valid.

Citing Articles

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Interactive Remote Patient Monitoring Devices for Managing Chronic Health Conditions: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Leo D, Buckley B, Chowdhury M, Harrison S, Isanejad M, Lip G J Med Internet Res. 2022; 24(11):e35508.

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Contacts in general practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: a register-based study.

Huibers L, Bech B, Kirk U, Kallestrup P, Vestergaard C, Christensen M Br J Gen Pract. 2022; 72(724):e799-e808.

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Telehealth in Primary Health Care: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Beheshti L, Kalankesh L, Doshmangir L, Farahbakhsh M Perspect Health Inf Manag. 2022; 19(1):1n.

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Telehealth Adoption and Discontinuation by US Hospitals: Results From 2 Quasi-Natural Experiments.

Baird A, Cheng Y, Xia Y JMIR Form Res. 2022; 6(2):e28979.

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