None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This is a study that will be used to evaluate how effective Telehealth is for patients who are already being followed up in a urological oncology clinic. You may be eligible for this study if you are already a patient who is regularly followed up at the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre in Westmead Hospital for a urological cancer condition. Unfortunately, if you are not yet known to the clinic or are awaiting to see a urologist for your first visit, you will not be eligible to participate. Study Details Patients who are eligible for the study will be contacted and informed about the trials aims and methods and informed consent will need to be provided should they wish to participate. Following this, participants will be randomised prior to their next follow up appointment to either a Telehealth group or the standard face-to-face appointment type. They will be notified of their allocation 24 hours prior to their appointment. At the end of the follow up appointment, participants will be asked to completed a validated questionnaire that will help quantify their responses with regards to effectiveness, services provided, efficiency and timing of the appointment, and overall satisfaction. These scores will be de-identified and anonymous. By participating in this trial, we will be able to compare how effective patients find Telehealth vs face-to-face consultations for those suffering from common urological malignancies. We also will assess to see if there are any barriers to the widespread adoption of Telehealth for these common health conditions and if any adverse effects are encountered. This knowledge can help potentiate Telehealth's adaptation to other fields of surgical and medical disciplines as well as providing timely and more efficient care to a greater number of patients within the local health district.
Interventions
The intervention in this trial would be randomising patients (already known to the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre) in 1 of 2 study arms to a Telehealth consultation as the mode of consult for their next follow up appointment. This Telehealth appointment will be carried out via telephone calls during a booked in clinic appointment time. Patients data including name, DOB and MRN are collected from a third party offsite investigator utilising the hospitals booking system. Eligible patients will
The intervention in this trial would be randomising patients (already known to the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre) in 1 of 2 study arms to a Telehealth consultation as the mode of consult for their next follow up appointment. This Telehealth appointment will be carried out via telephone calls during a booked in clinic appointment time. Patients data including name, DOB and MRN are collected from a third party offsite investigator utilising the hospitals booking system. Eligible patients will be contacted and the trial discussed with them, if they are agreeable, a patient information and consent form will be posted/emailed to the patients. Once consent is obtained, randomisation occurs using an online web-based generator. Patients are then informed of their allocation 24 hours prior to their next follow up appointment over the phone. For the clinicians providing the care, patients allocation will be placed in opaque sealed envelopes that the clinician will obtain just prior to each patients appointment time slot. Following this, patients either randomised to Telehealth or face-to-face will complete a validated questionnaire, delivered either online via a survey monkey link or a hard copy, respectively.
Sponsors
David Armany
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
All patients within the clinic who require ongoing follow up. No history of baseline confusion/severe cognitive impairment unless a carer is available to assist with telephone appointment.
Exclusion criteria
New or initial referrals History of non-compliance (multiple prior non-attendances to appointments in the past). NESB (Non-English-Speaking-Background). Patients who declined randomisation. General outpatient or non-urological oncology clinics.
Outcome results
None listed