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User friendliness aspects of home care telematics
1Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece. mantzourani@med.uoc.gr
Insights
Telemedicine successfully connected pediatric asthma specialists with children in remote areas of Crete. This innovative approach improved access to specialized asthma care for young patients, with 90% parent acceptance.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Health Informatics
- Telemedicine
Background:
- Asthma is a leading chronic childhood illness, frequently causing hospitalizations and emergency visits.
- Specialist care and consistent management are crucial for pediatric asthma patients.
- Geographic barriers in Crete limit access to the sole pediatric asthma specialty clinic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and acceptance of a pilot telemedicine program for pediatric asthma patients in remote areas of Crete.
- To bridge the gap in specialized asthma care for children living far from the central clinic.
Main Methods:
- A pilot telemedicine program was established involving 10 pediatric asthma patients.
- Teleconferencing was utilized for remote medical history collection, patient examination, and treatment adjustment.
- Patient education on asthma management was provided via telemedicine.
Main Results:
- The telemedicine service achieved a 90% acceptance rate among parents of participating patients.
- Parents expressed significant interest in the novel telemedicine service for their children's asthma care.
Conclusions:
- Telemedicine is a feasible and effective method for delivering specialized asthma care to children in underserved areas.
- The majority of pediatric asthma patients and their families readily accept and benefit from specialist-led telemedicine services.
Objectives:
Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease with a high number of admissions and emergency room visits in pediatric hospitals. Treatment of asthmatic patients is best done by asthma specialists and requires the chronic use of prophylactic medications, additional treatment for acute exacerbations and regular check-ups. In Crete, a Greek island, there are many children with asthma who are not receiving care by an asthma specialist. The only specialty clinic for asthmatic children in Crete is in Heraklion, a city in the center of the island. We attempted to use telemedicine in order to reach and follow children with asthma who live in distant areas in Crete.
Methods:
We set up a pilot telemedicine program with 10 asthmatic children already followed at the Specialty Clinic. Using teleconferencing techniques, we were able to obtain the medical history, examine the patients, educate them about the disease and adjust the treatment.
Results:
The parents of patients accepted the telemedicine service with a percentage of 90% and showed a special interest in this new service.
Conclusions:
We conclude that telemedicine for asthmatic children performed by their specialist is feasible and accepted by the majority of patients.