Evaluation of the Effects of Teleconsultations on a Endocrinology Referral List

Sponsor

Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (Other)

Overall Status

Completed

CT.gov ID

NCT02710799

Collaborator

Secretaria Estadual da Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Other), Programa de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia da UFRGS (Other), TelessaúdeRS / UFRGS (Other)

3,470

Enrollment

Location

Arms

Duration (Months)

288.6

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The aim of this study is evaluate the effects of telephone teleconsultations to primary care physicians (compared to the state's referral protocol) in the referrals waiting list for endocrinological appointments.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Diabetes Mellitus Hypothyroidism Hyperthyroidism Goiter Thyroid Nodule Obesity	Other: Teleconsultation Other: Protocol	N/A

Detailed Description

Rio Grande do Sul state's referral list for endocrinology evaluation in specialized care is highly overloaded. There is currently a referral protocol to select patients how should be referred. It will be evaluated if a intervention of telephone-based teleconsultations provided by the TelessaúdeRS to the primary care physicians can provide additional benefits. TelessaúdeRS is a telehealth program from the University of Rio Grande do Sul. This will be evaluated in a cluster randomized clinical trial.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

3470 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

Single (Investigator)

Primary Purpose:

Health Services Research

Official Title:

Evaluation of the Effectivity of Teleconsultations for Improving the Referrals From Primary Care to Specialized Care of Patients With Chronic Endocrinological Conditions

Study Start Date :

Jun 1, 2015

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Jun 1, 2016

Actual Study Completion Date :

Jun 1, 2016

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: Control Referrals will be evaluated through the state's protocols	Other: Protocol The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.
Experimental: Intervention Referrals will be evaluated through the state's protocols associated with telephone-based teleconsultations.	Other: Teleconsultation The teleconsultations will be performed by medical doctors, mostly family physicians, but also internists and endocrinologists. The teleconsultations will follow a structured format to discuss some topics on the disease and access the relevant information (based on the state's protocols). The doubts from the primary care physician will be addressed. Other: Protocol The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Active Comparator: Control

Referrals will be evaluated through the state's protocols

Other: Protocol

The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.

Experimental: Intervention

Referrals will be evaluated through the state's protocols associated with telephone-based teleconsultations.

Other: Teleconsultation

The teleconsultations will be performed by medical doctors, mostly family physicians, but also internists and endocrinologists. The teleconsultations will follow a structured format to discuss some topics on the disease and access the relevant information (based on the state's protocols). The doubts from the primary care physician will be addressed.

Other: Protocol

The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Number of consultations authorized [1 year]
Number of consultations authorized after the evaluation by the control and intervention strategies.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Number of new referrals for endocrinology [1 year]
Total number of new referrals performed by the county.
Adherence to the state's protocols [1 year]
Number of new referrals for endocrinology with adequate informations according to the state's protocols.
Usage of TelessaúdeRS teleconsultations [1 year]
Total number of calls to TelessaúdeRS hotline (available to every primary care physician working in brazilian public health system)

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and Older

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients from counties with at least 5 endocrinology referrals waiting appointment.
Patients referred from primary care physicians
Patients referred because one of the protocol conditions (Diabetes Mellitus, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Goiter, Thyroid nodule, Obesity).