Experiences and Perceptions of Patient Watch, a Rural Telehealth Case Management Model, for Frequent Presenters to the Emergency Department: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study.
Mary Malakellis, Anna Wong Shee, Laura Alston and 4 others
PMID 42433180WHAT IT FOUND
Frequent ED presenters made fewer ED presentations after rural telehealth case management, but without a control the reduction cannot be attributed to the programme.
Participants valued monitoring and coordination; some found calls repetitive, and quality of life did not improve.
Key findings
01ED presentations fell from a mean of 2.2 to 1.0, and hospital admissions fell from 1.5 to 0.5.
02Quality of life and chronic illness care scores did not change significantly.
03Patients described useful monitoring and care coordination, but some viewed weekly calls as repetitive and low value.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 37 of 147 enrolled candidates were analysed, so the sample may not represent all frequent presenters. There was no control group, so ED use may have changed over time without the programme. The study was conducted at one rural health service in Victoria, Australia, so results may not apply elsewhere. Patients and carers were not involved in the design or conduct of the study. Subgroup analyses were inspected rather than statistically tested because of small sample sizes. No formal economic evaluation was performed.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Patient Watch caused the reduction in ED presentations. The study had no control group and only 37 participants, so the change could reflect regression to the mean or other factors.