Does primary-care telecardiology reduce the need for hospital referrals?
Primary-care telecardiology allows the majority of patients to be managed by general practitioners, reducing unnecessary hospital referrals.
In a pilot study of primary-care telecardiology, 2563 consultations were carried out over 18 months. Following teleconsultation, 2076 patients (81%) were found to be suitable for management entirely by the general practitioner, without the need for referral to hospital. The system identified 487 patients (19%) with cardiac problems who required either admission to hospital or outpatient assessment. There was a resultant saving of referrals to hospital accident and emergency departments. Extension of the telecardiology service to include tele-echocardiography may result in faster access to diagnosis and better management of patients in heart failure, improving patients' quality of life and reducing hospitalization.
Shanit et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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