Efficacy of telemedicine in occupational therapy: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the efficacy of using a less costly, low-bandwidth telemedicine system to evaluate occupational therapy clients in rural areas. Four residents (aged 63 +/- 10.2 years) from rural Tillery, North Carolina, were evaluated via either The Kohlman Evaluation of Living Skills or The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. An occupational therapist in Tillery administered one of these tools, while a second occupational therapist at East Carolina University simultaneously scored the same tool by telemedicine link. Comparison of their responses revealed scoring differences in only one of four administered evaluations. Video images were insufficient for visualization of finer movements, but audio quality was excellent. The authors conclude that select occupational therapy evaluation data can be accurately transmitted and properly scored using low-bandwidth telemedicine systems.