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Volume 8, Issue 4 (Suppl) J Health Med Inform, an open access journal
ISSN: 2157-7420 Medical Informatics 2017
August 31- 01 September, 2017
August 31- 01 September, 2017 | Prague, Czech Republic
5th International Conference on
Medical Informatics & Telemedicine
SYNCHRONOUS VIDEO TELEMEDICINE IN LOWER EXTREMITIES CHRONIC ULCERS
TREATMENT - RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY
Gamus Aa,b, Chodick Ga,b and Kaufman Ha
aMaccabi Healthcare Services, Israel
bTel Aviv University, Israel
Introduction: Lower extremity ulcers (LEU) are associated with considerable morbidity and even mortality. Their prevalence
may further increase as a result of aging and its limited mobility may present a challenge to the healthcare system. Telemedicine
(TM) is often defined as a process of using the information and communication technologies (ICT) to provide a remote
health care to the populations where medical specialist's services availability is limited. The aim of the study was to assess the
effectiveness of telemedicine video conferencing modality, compared to the usual face-to-face (FTF) treatment of LEU.
Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted at Maccabi Health Services Northern District Centers, Israel, and
was based on patient's medical records database. Consecutive visits of patients to a wound care specialist for twelve-month
observation period during 2015 were reviewed. Statistical analyses of cohort's populations and outcomes in both treatment
modalities were performed using χ2 cross-tabulation, Student's t-test for numerical data, Binary Logistic Regression for
confounding effects evaluation. Non-inferiority and equivalence of TM to FTF methods were assessed. Statistical significance
of 0.05 was assumed throughout the study. All testing performed using IBM SPSS software, version 22 and WINPEPI, version
11.23.
Results: A final sample of 111 patients was analyzed, telemedicine (n=55) and usual care (n=56), with 593 visits in both
cohorts. No significant difference in outcome measures (healing of ulcers) between these cohorts was detected (p=0.823).
Nonetheless, TM required lower number of visits compared to FTF treatment (p=0.003). Non-inferiority of TM to FTF was
demonstrated within the Δ= 20% range limits.
Conclusions: The study results indicate that Video-Conferencing (VC) based TM may be a feasible and effective method in
LEU management.
Biography
Gamus A completed . in Electrical Engineering, Certified System Analyst, PhD student on Synchronous Telemedicine applications in Lower Extremities
Ulcerations at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Over 25 years of experience in Telecommunications networks and Information Technologies services design and
applications in Health domain. Independent Consultant for Telecommunications and Health services organizations worldwide with over 15 years' in Telemedicine
applications design and implementation.
Gamus A et al., J Health Med Informat 2017, 8:4 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7420-C1-019