Providers Expectations on Telemedicine: A Qualitative Research in a Large Healthcare Network of Latin America.

UNLABELLED: The benefits of Telemedicine make it a viable, reliable and useful discipline for dispensing health care. This qualitative study is aimed to understand the expectations, opinions and previous knowledge of the professionals about telemedicine at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. RESULTS: Professionals realize that Telemedicine is inserted into their usual practice in an informal way. They consider telemedicine as an alternative to the traditional delivery of health care, but are afraid of their role in health care is undermined. Professionals point out very specific applications of Telemedicine such as monitoring the health of patients remotely, drug doses adjustments and sharing clinical information. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that professionals are not familiar with telemedicine and will be necessary to develop a training plan before implementation.

[Prevention of cardiovascular diseases by an antihypertensive program in the elderly, a cohort study]. / Prevención de eventos cardiovasculares en hipertensos mayores de 65 años bajo el cuidado de un programa de control. Estudio de cohorte.

INTRODUCTION: We started on year 2000 a Complex Intervention Program addressed at hypertension control among our patients. AIM: To compare the risk of cardiovascular events and of dying in hypertensive patients under Program care. METHOD: We started follow-up of a cohort of 1922 patients over 65 years in August 2000. Hipertension diagnosis was ascertained if patient reported to be hypertensive, or was under anti hypertensive treatment or if he/she had two blood pressure measurements = 140/90 mm Hg. Cardiovascular events were considered to be admissions due to coronary disease, cardiac insufficiency or stroke. Incidence is reported by 100 person years follow-up. Relative risks between hypertensive and normotensive patients were calculated and Cox regresión was used to adjust for potential confounders. We compared time to first cardiovascular event and to death with Log Rank Test. RESULTS: Fourty eight point three percent of patients were hypertensive and differed from normotensive patients as to age (79 (5) years vs. 77 (5) p < 0.001), proportion of diabetic patients (16.1% vs. 7.6% p < 0.001). Mean follow-up time was 28 months. Mortality RR was 1.04 (95% CI 0.69-1.58). As to incidence of cardiovascular events it was 1.86 in normotensive vs. 3.02 (RR 1.62 95% CI 1.09-2.42). When adjusted by age, sex, smoking, dislipemia and diabetes, OR was 1.3 (95% CI 0.86-1.98). CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension did not increase the risk in cardiovascular events among our hypertensive patients at 2.3 years follow-up.