[Videophone assistance and home hospitalization: the ViSaDom program]

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Telehealth
• Home Healthcare

Background:

• Home Hospitalization (HH) provides acute care in patients' homes.
• Effective communication between patients and care teams is crucial for successful HH.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the clinical feasibility and patient acceptance of videophone communication for home hospitalization care.
• To evaluate the impact of videophone use on care quality and patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study comparing a telemedicine group using videophones with a control group receiving standard HH care.
• Patients were randomly assigned and matched based on age, Karnofsky Index, and admission reason.
• Included adult, maternity, and pediatric patients from various departments.

Main Results:

• Videophone calls averaged 6 minutes, with patients making 23 calls each over the study period.
• Enabled enhanced wound follow-up with photo transmission, pain monitoring, technical nursing care, and patient education.
• Telemedicine patients showed reduced anxiety (p=0.048) and high satisfaction with care and communication.

Conclusions:

• Videophone communication, as demonstrated by the ViSaDom program, is clinically feasible and acceptable.
• This technology offers a valuable tool for enhancing the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of home hospitalization care.