Pediatric Hospital-Based Postdischarge Telemedicine Follow-Up Programs: A Scoping Review

Children discharged from the inpatient setting are at risk for postdischarge health issues. Postdischarge telemedicine follow-up programs (health care visits conducted via phone or video) might address these issues, but their focus, structure, and outcomes have not been collectively studied.

To conduct a scoping review reporting on hospital-based postdischarge telemedicine follow-up program design, evaluation, and ability to address postdischarge issues and unplanned health care reutilization.

PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, preprints, and gray literature were systematically searched.

Articles in English that investigated hospital-based postdischarge telemedicine programs for pediatric patients younger than 22 years, not part of a bundle, were included.

Data on program and study characteristics and outcomes were extracted and synthesized.

Of 3407 unique studies identified, 17 were included. Most programs (n = 13, 76%) used phone call follow-up rather than video, and most (n = 13, 76%) follow-up occurred within 4 days. Prevalence of postdischarge issues identified ranged from 2.9% to 85% (median 23.8%, IQR 18.6%, 64.3%), predominantly related to appointments, medications, and clinical concerns. One phone call follow-up observational study showed a reduction in 14-day emergency department (ED) reutilization, but no other studies found reductions in 7-, 14-, or 30-day ED revisit or readmission rates.

This scoping review found that hospital-based postdischarge telemedicine follow-up programs are acceptable to families and successfully identify wide-ranging postdischarge issues that affect patient safety. However, evidence to date does not demonstrate an effect on reducing health care reutilization.