Activities of Clinical Expertise and Research in a Rare Disease Referral Centre: A Place for Telemedicine beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic?

INTRODUCTION: Rare disease referral centres are entrusted with missions of clinical expertise and research, two activities that have to contend with numerous obstacles. Providing specialist opinions is time-consuming, uncompensated and limited by difficulties in exchanging medical data. Clinical research is constrained by the need for frequent research protocol visits. Our objective was to determine whether telemedicine (TLM) can overcome these difficulties. METHODS: To better characterise the activity of clinical expertise provided by our French centre, each opinion delivered by our team was reported on a standardised form. To investigate our clinical research activity, investigators and patients were asked to complete a questionnaire on the acceptability of research protocol teleconsultations. RESULTS: Regarding clinical expertise, our team delivered 120 opinions per week (representing a total of 21 h), of which 29% were delivered to patients and 69% to medical practitioners. If these were delivered using TLM, it would represent a potential weekly income of EUR 500 (tele-expertise) and EUR 775 (teleconsultations). Regarding the research activity, 70% of investigators considered the frequency of visits to be a limiting factor for patient inclusions; nearly half of the patients surveyed would be in favour of having teleconsultations in place of (40%) or in addition to (56%) in-person visits. CONCLUSION: Whereas TLM has become widely used as a back-up procedure to in-person consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the solutions it provides to the problems encountered in performing expertise and research activities have made it a new conventional follow-up modality for patients with rare diseases.

Overview of dermatologic tele-expertise in areas of low physician density: A retrospective study at Le Mans general hospital.

BACKGROUND: In areas of low physician density, especially as regards dermatologists in France, there is an increasing interest in tele-expertise. This is particularly the case in the Sarthe department, where the number of physicians continues to decline and access to care was further limited by the COVID 19 epidemic. STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively collected data from tele-expertise requests submitted to Le Mans General Hospital by general practitioners via a dedicated platform between May 6, 2019, and April 9, 2021. RESULTS: Six hundred and forty three requests relating to 90 different diagnoses were recorded during this period. One hundred and thirty four patients (20% of requests) were invited to attend a face-to-face consultation within an average of 29 days. DISCUSSION: Through the use of tele-expertise at Le Mans Genreal Hospital it was possible to introduce a means of tackling the problem of the lack of dermatologists in the Sarthe department. Rapid responses enabled the number of consultation requests to be reduced, leading to fewer population displacements in the context of the present pandemic. CONCLUSION: These initial results are encouraging and confirm that tele-expertise seems a satisfactory option to optimize access to care for populations in areas of low physician density.

A cost minimization analysis comparing asynchronous tele-expertise with face-to-face consultation for prenatal diagnosis in France.

Timely detection of congenital anomalies using ultrasound improves neonatal care. As specialist sonographers are often geographically dispersed, they are sometimes requested to provide a second opinion via tele-expertise. The present study aimed to evaluate the economic impact of asynchronous tele-expertise in obstetric ultrasound care in private medical practice through a comparison with face-to-face consultations. We conducted a cost minimization analysis using decision tree modeling in order to determine whether asynchronous tele-expertise or face-to-face consultation had the lowest cost, under the assumption of equivalent effectiveness in terms of prenatal diagnosis. Costs were measured from the societal perspective. The data for the base case of our modeling came from a retrospective analysis of the clinical practice of an expert who had been conducting asynchronous tele-expertise for 4 years in France. The study included 260 patients for whom 322 requests for expert opinions were made by physicians/midwives from January 2016 to January 2020. The expected average total cost for tele-expertise for a patient was €74.45 (95% CI: €66.36-€82.54) compared to €195.02 (95% CI: €183.90-€206.14) for the conventional face-to-face strategy. Accordingly, using tele-expertise led to a statistically significant reduction of €120.57 in the average total cost per patient. A sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the model produced. The results of the present study underline the efficiency of tele-expertise and highlight related economic benefits. Accordingly, they could inform public health policy on the dissemination of tele-expertise in the field of obstetric ultrasound care.

[Good practices in telemedicine]. / Bonnes pratiques en matière de télémédecine.

Telemedicine, or remote medicine, has become an important tool for health care providers as a result of the SARS-Cov2 pandemic. It must be considered as a tool capable of improving the practice of modern medicine. This text reminds the rules of its practice and encourages the organization of teaching.

Telemedication Reviews to Optimize Medication Prescription for Older People in Nursing Homes.

Introduction: Older people living in nursing homes (NH) are at a higher risk of preventable drug-related adverse events because of age-related physiological changes, polypathology, and polypharmacy. NH residents are particularly exposed to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Many strategies have been developed to improve the quality and the safety of drug prescription in NH, including medication reviews (MRs). Methods: In the context of the application of telemedicine, we developed and are currently implementing a novel hospital expert-based MRs through tele-expertise (or "telemedication review," telemedication reviews hereafter [TMR]) in French NH residents. The impact of these TMR on unplanned hospitalizations 3 months after implementation is assessed. TMR consider all available sociodemographic, clinical, biological, and pharmaceutical data pertaining to the patient and are performed in accordance with their health care objectives. Results: The preliminary results for the 39 TMRs performed to date (September 2021) showed that a total of 402 PIMs were detected, and all residents had at least one PIM. We also present the feasibility and the usefulness of this novel TMR for NH, illustrating these preliminary results with two concrete TMR experiences. Among the 39 TMR performed, the average acceptance rate of expert recommendations made to general practitioners (GP) working in NH was ∼33%. Discussion and Conclusions: The success of this novel TMR depends on how the proposed prescription adjustments made by the hospital expert team are subsequently integrated into health care practices. The low acceptance rate by GP highlights the need to actively involve these professionals in the process of developing TMR, with a view to encouraging them to act on proposed adjustments.

[Asynchronous Tele-Expertise (ASTE) in obstetrical ultrasound: Is it equivalent to face-to-face consultation?] / La Télé-Expertise asynchrone (TEAS) en échographie obstétricale : est-ce équivalent à la consultation en présentiel ?

INTRODUCTION: The demand for remote advice has expanded since the advent of information and communication technology. This study aims to evaluate the use of asynchronous tele-expertise (ASTE) in providing a quality expert opinion in the field of obstetric ultrasound. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Requests for expert opinions on pregnant patients were considered retrospectively over a 24-month period (01/09/2018 to 01/21/2020). All patients were initially seen in consultation with a midwife sonographer, located in Hyères, 82km from the expert's centre. In the event of unusual images, including one or more malformations on ultrasound screening, a second opinion was necessary. Responses were characterized as follows : possible or impossible to analyse images; ASTE alone or combined with a face-to-face consultation; and absence or presence of unusual images. Unusual images were classified as normal variants or recognised malformations. We analysed the outcomes of these pregnancies and assessed concordance between prenatal advice and postnatal outcome. RESULTS: During the study period, we identified 174 referrals from 141 patients. Requests for advice were made by 3/174 (1.7%), 69/174 (39.7%), and 102/174 (58.6%) in the first, second, and third trimester of pregnancy, respectively. Overall, 115/141 (81.6%), 21/141 (14.9%), 4/141 (2.8%), and 1/141 (0.7%) patients were provided with one, two, three, and five opinions, respectively. In total, 37/141 (26.2%) patients required a face-to-face consultation, resulting in 38/174 (21.8%) opinions (one patient was seen twice). At least one unusual image was found for 27/141 (19.2%) patients and no unusual images were reported for 114/141 (80.8%) patients. Analysis of the pregnancy outcomes revealed a perfect correlation between prenatal advice and postnatal data, both for cases with unusual images and those without. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results of our study reveal that ASTE is safe in terms of enabling an expert to answer a precise question formulated by a screener when confronted with images deemed to be unusual. Using this mode of communication, a tailored healthcare pathway may be defined for the mother and her foetus. This new type of practice cannot exist without establishing a genuine relationship of trust between the person requesting the opinion and the person who is asked to provide the opinion.

[Telemedicine monitoring for AMD patients]. / Suivi en télémédecine des patients atteints de DMLA.

INTRODUCTION: AMD follow-up is a public health issue in developed countries due to aging of the population and medical demographics. Telemedicine may be a means of improving follow-up. PURPOSE: To compare the agreement between telemedicine and in-person consultations in terms of indications for intravitreal injections in exudative AMD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2017 to April 2017, AMD patients followed on a PRN protocol at a single center, Rennes university medical center, were included. The telemedicine evaluation was read by two anonymous experts on the basis of the medical record including visual acuity and fundus photographs. The agreement between conventional follow-up and telemedicine in terms of indications for intravitreal injections, as well as interobserver agreement, were tested with the Cohen's kappa coefficient using SAS statistical software V9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). RESULTS: In total, 104 eyes corresponding to 57 consultations for 42 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 82.12 years (standard deviation±6.4). Recommendations for anti-VEGF were similar between the standard and telemedicine visits in 97 % of cases. The Kappa coefficient was 0.8861 [0.76; 1.00], P<0.0001 for agreement between telemedicine and in-person consultation. The Kappa coefficient was 0.8441 [0.70; 0.99], P<0.0001 for interobserver agreement. We observed 5 cases of disagreement between the two observers. DISCUSSION: The concordance was very good in our study. The few cases of disagreement resulted mainly from poorly interpretable examinations due to poor image quality, major macular changes in patients with a prior examination, and the fact that only a single cut was analyzed. CONCLUSION: AMD monitoring by telemedicine seems promising and reliable. This approach would allow better follow-up of patients with difficult access to care.

Impact of medication review via tele-expertise on unplanned hospitalizations at 3 months of nursing homes patients (TEM-EHPAD): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Inappropriate drug prescribing causes preventable drug-related adverse events that result in increased morbidity and mortality, additional costs and diminished quality of life. Numerous initiatives have been launched to improve the quality of drug prescribing and safeguard the security of drug administration processes in nursing homes. Against the backdrop of implementation of telemedicine services, the focus of the present work is to evaluate the impact of a telemedication review carried out by a hospital physician and pharmacist as part of the telemedicine offer. METHODS: The present study is a randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 364 patients will be randomized into two groups: (1) an experimental group (182 patients) benefiting from a telemedication review using tele-expertise and (2) a control group (182 patients) receiving standard care. The primary endpoint will be rate of all-cause unplanned hospital admissions occurring within 3 months of randomization. The secondary endpoints will be rate of unplanned admissions at 6 months, patient quality of life, incidence of behavioral disturbances, number of falls, number of residents prescribed at least one inappropriate medication, nursing staff satisfaction, proposed medication reviews and their acceptability rate, characteristics of patients whose general practitioners have taken account of tele-expertise, efficacy of tele-expertise as compared to standard prescription and acceptability and satisfaction surveys of participating caregivers. DISCUSSION: In the literature, various studies have investigated the utility of structured medication review processes, but outcome measures are heterogeneous, and results vary widely. Medication review can detect medication-related problems in many patients, but evidence of clinical impact is scant. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios will be used to compare the cost and effectiveness of the experimental strategy and that of standard care. Our approach, involving the combination of an acceptability survey and a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) satisfaction survey, is particularly innovative. The results of this randomized trial are expected to confirm that medication review using tele-expertise has potential as a worthwhile care management strategy for nursing home residents. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03640845; registered August 21, 2018 (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03640845).

Experience of Supporting Telemedicine Networks With the Collegium System: First 6 Years.

The Collegium system was first made available in 2012 to support organizations conducting humanitarian or non-commercial telemedicine work in low resource settings. It provides the technical infrastructure necessary to establish a store-and-forward telemedicine service. During the subsequent 6 years a total of 46 networks were established, based on the Collegium infrastructure. The majority of the networks were set up to provide a clinical service (33), with six designed for education and training, and the remainder for test or administrative purposes. Of the potentially operational networks which were set up (i.e., those established for clinical or educational purposes), 15 networks (38%) were stillborn and did not handle a single case after being established. In contrast, the two most active networks had handled almost 12,000 cases. The average case rate of the five most active clinical networks operating in low-resource settings (i.e., the total number of cases divided by the length of time for which the network had been established) ranged from 0.5 to 29.4 cases/week. Across the networks there was little evidence of sigmoidal growth in activity, which is consistent with reports of other telemedicine activity in North America. A brief survey was sent to 49 network coordinators, from 31 networks. Responses were received from 9 coordinators (18% of those invited to participate). The median satisfaction with the system was 8 (on a scale from 1 = not at all satisfied to 10 = very satisfied). The free text comments were mainly technical suggestions regarding image transfer, the mobile application, or other modes of communication. The results of operating the Collegium system demonstrate that supporting telemedicine work in low resource settings can be successful, since the networks handled a very wide range of clinical cases, and at activity levels up to several cases per day. However, approximately one-third of the networks that were established did not handle a single clinical case. Nonetheless, this might represent a form of success in the sense that it prevented the waste of resource involved in an organization purchasing a telemedicine infrastructure only to find that it was not used.

Effectiveness and efficiency of teleimaging in the transplantation process: a mixed method protocol.

BACKGROUND: The transplantation process usually takes place without transplant teams being able to use imaging data to assess graft quality. The decision of whether to go get the graft or not is therefore limited and suboptimal. "Cristal images" is a teleimaging project allowing real-time visualization of images of the organs of the donor. The objective of our study is to assess whether the use of a secure teleimaging can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the procurement and transplantation processes. METHODS: We will use the exhaustive national registry of organ allocation and transplantation, and compare outcomes before the deployment of "Cristal images" (years 2015-2016) and after it becomes operational (years 2018-2019) for heart, lung, liver and kidney transplant in a before-after study, combined with a preference elicitation study. The primary endpoint will be the number of successful organ transplantations. Secondary endpoints will be related to the efficiency of the transplant process (decision making, transportation, cost) and a preference elicitation study will determine the relative preferences of transplant teams towards few "Cristal images"' components or potential developments, which are yet to be determined through a qualitative analysis based on interviews with professionals. DISCUSSION: This study will provide stakeholders data on the efficiency of real-time visualization for transplant teams and identify the levers likely to influence the technology use among these teams. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03201224 , 13 June 2017, retrospectively registered.

[Digital technology and nursing practice, opportunities and disparities between hospital and community care]. / Le numérique et l'exercice infirmier, opportunités et disparités entre l'hôpital et la ville.

While the use of digital technology has developed in nursing practice in the hospital setting, this movement is late to arrive in homecare. Structural factors can explain these disparities, which are also due to insufficient training of private practice professionals and the fact that digital tools are not always suited to their mode of practice. However, there are adapted and innovative solutions, such as platforms for the organisation of homecare.

A Teledermatology Pilot Programme for the Management of Skin Diseases in Primary Health Care Centres: Experiences from a Resource-Limited Country (Mali, West Africa).

In sub-Saharan Africa, in particular in rural areas, patients have limited access to doctors with specialist skills in skin diseases. To address this issue, a teledermatology pilot programme focused on primary health centres was set up in Mali. This study was aimed at investigating the feasibility of this programme and its impact on the management of skin diseases. The programme was based on the store-and-forward model. Health care providers from 10 primary centres were trained to manage common skin diseases, to capture images of skin lesions, and to use an e-platform to post all cases beyond their expertise for dermatologists in order to obtain diagnosis and treatment recommendations. After training, the cases of 180 patients were posted by trained health workers on the platform. Ninety-six per cent of these patients were properly managed via the responses given by dermatologists. The mean time to receive the expert's response was 32 h (range: 13 min to 20 days). Analysis of all diseases diagnosed via the platform revealed a wide range of skin disorders. Our initiative hugely improved the management of all skin diseases in the targeted health centres. In developing countries, Internet accessibility and connection quality represent the main challenges when conducting teledermatology programmes.

Telemedicine as a tool for digital medical education: a 15-year journey inside the RAFT network.

This paper presents the evolution and growth of continuous medical education through the Réseau en Afrique Francophone pour la Télémédecine (RAFT) network. RAFT is a telemedicine network present on four continents and built through years of experience, with the goal of supporting isolated healthcare professionals by providing them with the right expertise at the right time using affordable, low-bandwidth technologies. Much more than a platform to share and exchange knowledge, RAFT has put in place a solid local infrastructure to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the network. From experience gained with South-South collaboration to top-down and bottom-up approaches and various certification models, much know-how has been acquired and different perspectives for improvement have been proposed. The results we have collected from these 15 years of practice are presented in this paper through lessons learned and key takeaways. Perspectives for future development supported by concrete examples conclude the paper.

TELE-EXPERTISE SYSTEM BASED ON THE USE OF THE ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD TO SUPPORT REAL-TIME ANTIMICROBIAL USE.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are (i) to present the design of a tele-expertise system, based on the telephone and electronic patient record (EPR), which supports the counseling of the infectious diseases specialist (IDS) for appropriate antimicrobial use, in a French University hospital; and (ii) to assess the diffusion of the system, the users' adherence, and their perceived utility. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted to measure (i) the number and patterns of telephone calls for tele-expertise council, the number of initial and secondary assessments from the IDS and multidisciplinary meetings; (ii) the clinicians' adherence rate to therapeutic proposals by the IDS and the number of clinical situations for which the IDS decided to move to bedside; and (iii) the perceived utility of the system by the medical managers of the most demanding departments. RESULTS: The review of patients' records for 1 year period indicates that 87 percent of the therapeutic recommendations were fully followed. The adherence was high, despite the IDS moving to the bedside only in 6 percent of cases. Medical managers of the most demanding departments considered the system to be useful. Moreover, 6,994 tele-expertise notifications have been recorded into the EPR for 48 months. CONCLUSIONS: The tele-expertise system is an original way to design information technology supported antimicrobial stewardship intervention based on the remote access to relevant information by the IDS and on the traceability of the medical counseling for the clinicians.

User Feedback on the MSF Tele-Expertise Service After a 4-Year Pilot Trial - A Comprehensive Analysis.

We surveyed all users of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) tele-expertise service, approximately four years after it began operation. The survey contained 50 questions and was sent to 294 referrers and 254 specialists. There were 163 responses (response rate 30%). There were no significant differences between the responses from French and English users, so the responses were combined for subsequent analysis. Most of the responders were doctors (133 of 157 who answered that question), and most had completed field missions for MSF, i.e., both specialists and referrers. The majority stated that the system was user friendly and that they found it self-explanatory (i.e., they did not need to be shown how to use it). Almost all the referrers found that the telemedicine advice that they received was helpful, changed diagnosis and management, and/or reassured the patient. Similar feedback came from the specialists, who also felt that there was educational value for the field doctor. Although there was general satisfaction with the service, the survey identified various problems. The main concerns of the referrers were the lack of promotion of the system at headquarters' level, and the main concerns of the specialists were the lack of feedback about patient follow-up. Nonetheless, both referrers and specialists recognized the benefits of telemedicine in improving patient management, providing education, and reducing isolation in the field.

The Development of a Multilingual Tool for Facilitating the Primary-Specialty Care Interface in Low Resource Settings: the MSF Tele-Expertise System.

In 2009, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) started a pilot trial of store-and-forward telemedicine to support field workers. One network was operated in French and one in English; a third, Spanish network was brought into operation in 2012. The three telemedicine pilots were then combined to form a single multilingual tele-expertise system, tailored to support MSF field staff. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all telemedicine cases referred from April 2010 to March 2014. We also carried out a survey of all users in December 2013. A total of 1039 referrals were received from 41 countries, of which 89% were in English, 10% in French, and 1% in Spanish. The cases covered a very wide range of medical and surgical specialties. The median delay in providing the first specialist response to the referrer was 5.3 h (interquartile range 1.8, 16.4). The survey was sent to 294 referrers and 254 specialists. Of these, 224 were considered as active users (41%). Out of the 548 users, 163 (30%) answered the survey. The majority of referrers (79%) reported that the advice received via the system improved their management of the patient. The main concerns raised by referrers and specialists were the lack of support or promotion of system at headquarters' level and the lack of feedback about patient follow-up. Because of the size of the MSF organization, it is clear that there is potential for further organizational adoption.

A low-cost tele-imaging platform for developing countries.

PURPOSE: To design a "low-cost" tele-imaging method allowing real-time tele-ultrasound expertise, delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis, and tele-radiology between remote peripherals hospitals and clinics (patient centers) and university hospital centers (expert center). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A system of communication via internet (IP camera and remote access software) enabling transfer of ultrasound videos and images between two centers allows a real-time tele-radiology expertise in the presence of a junior sonographer or radiologist at the patient center. In the absence of a sonographer or radiologist at the patient center, a 3D reconstruction program allows a delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis with images acquired by a lay operator (e.g., midwife, nurse, technician). The system was tested both with high and low bandwidth. The system can further accommodate non-ultrasound tele-radiology (conventional radiography, mammography, and computer tomography for example). The system was tested on 50 patients between CHR Tsevie in Togo (40 km from Lomé-Togo and 4500 km from Tours-France) and CHU Campus at Lomé and CHU Trousseau in Tours. RESULTS: A real-time tele-expertise was successfully performed with a delay of approximately 1.5 s with an internet bandwidth of around 1 Mbps (IP Camera) and 512 kbps (remote access software). A delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis was also performed with satisfactory results. The transmission of radiological images from the patient center to the expert center was of adequate quality. Delayed tele-ultrasound and tele-radiology was possible even in the presence of a low-bandwidth internet connection. CONCLUSION: This tele-imaging method, requiring nothing by readily available and inexpensive technology and equipment, offers a major opportunity for telemedicine in developing countries.