Application of Smartphone Otoscope in Telemedicine in Rural Medical Consortium in Eastern China in the COVID-19 Era

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Xiangming Meng¹  Zhiyong Dai¹  Ying Wang²  Xiang Hua³  Xiaobo Gu²  Jianxun Guo²  Yangyang Wang¹  Chao Hang¹  Yuting Jiang² 

[1] Department of Otolaryngology, Wuxi Huishan District People's Hospital;Wuxi Huishan District Qianqiao Street Community Health Service Center;Wuxi Huishan District Luoshe Town Shitangwan Health Center

关键词: telemedicine;    smartphone;    otoscope;    primary health care;    medical consortium;    WeChat;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.879410

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of smartphone otoscope telemedicine in the rural medical consortium in East China in the COVID-19 era. Methods This prospective study was conducted within a rural medical consortium that provides health care services by integrating medical resources in the same area. When a patient visited primary health care (PHC) for ear diseases, the PHC provider used a smartphone otoscope to examine the patient's external ear canal and eardrum, and then sent photos or videos of the patient's ear to the otolaryngologist at the lead hospital via WeChat group. The otolaryngologist provided remote diagnosis and management recommendations to the PHC provider. The following data were recorded: age and gender, outpatient diagnosis, disease duration, sides, duration of treatment, telemedicine visits, treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction, and PHC providers' self-evaluation score. Results A total of 83 patients were included in the study, including 43 males and 40 females, with a mean age of 44.6 ± 19.7 years (range 3–83 years). The duration of treatment for these patients was 14.0 (7,14) days. PHC visits were 2.2 ± 1.1 times (range: 1–7 times). Telemedicine visits ranged from 1 to 5, with a mean of 1.8 ± 0.9. Among of patients, 62 (74.7%) were cured, 21 (25.3%) improved, and 0 (0%) were ineffective. Sixty-five patients (78.3%) were very satisfied, 16 (19.3%) patients were somewhat satisfied, and two patients (2.4%) were dissatisfied. Based on the self-reported helpfulness, the primary health care providers assessed telemedicine as very helpful ( n = 63, 75.9%), helpful ( n = 20, 24.1%), and unhelpful ( n = 0, 0%). Conclusions Smartphone otoscope telemedicine in the medical consortium can effectively improve the ability of rural PHC providers to diagnose and treat ear diseases, save time and costs for patients, and improve patient satisfaction.

【 授权许可】

CC BY