Teleconsultations to Provide Support for Primary Care Practitioners and Improve Quality of care--the Experience of a Large Scale Telehealth Service in Brazil.

ABSTRACT

This observational restrospective study was designed to assess teleconsultations performed by a public telehealth service in Brazil. A satisfaction survey was used to assess the impact on clinical practice. A total of 63,975 teleconsultations were performed, from April 2007 to November 2014. Family physicians (33%) and dermatologists (19%) answered most queries. From January to February 2014 (n=895), the most frequent queries were about etiology (30%) and pharmacological treatment (25%). The satisfaction survey in 2014 (n=571) showed that teleconsultations avoided patient referal in 78%. This study aims to shows the potential of telehealth to provide support to primary care practitioners in remote cities.