Diabetes Mellitus, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Goiter, Thyroid Nodule, Obesity
Conditions
Keywords
Endocrinology, Referral list, Teleconsultation, Telemedicine, Cluster randomized clinical trial
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.
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.
Interventions
OTHERTeleconsultation
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.
OTHERProtocol
The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.
Sponsors
Secretaria Estadual da Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul
Programa de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia da UFRGS
TelessaúdeRS / UFRGS
Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
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).
Exclusion criteria
* Patients from counties with more than one hundred endocrinology referrals waiting appointment.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of consultations authorized | 1 year | Number of consultations authorized after the evaluation by the control and intervention strategies. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 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) |
Countries
Brazil
Outcome results
None listed