Impact of Virtual Clinics on Streamlining NHS Outpatient Waiting Lists and Carbon Emissions.

Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics Pub Date : 2024-12-18 eCollection Date: 2024-10-01 DOI:10.1177/24730114241305603
Bhaskar Amarnath Bhavanasi, Shrikant Kulkarni
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The National Health Service (NHS) outpatient waiting list is growing, affecting specialties like foot and ankle. Delays are due to increasing demand, limited resources, and administrative inefficiencies. Virtual clinics are being explored to reduce physical clinic burdens and provide timely care. This study investigates the effectiveness of virtual clinics in reducing prolonged waiting times in the foot and ankle specialty. Emissions from personal vehicles are a primary driver of climate change, which is a little recognized benefit of virtual clinics.

Methods: We analyzed outcomes from a virtual elective foot and ankle clinic, overseen by a specialist consultant, for new elective referrals over 4 months. Data for 175 patients were collected from Lorenzo, our electronic health records system. We also assessed the success rate of virtual consultations in terms of accurate diagnoses and effective treatment plans. Measured distance to the hospital based was on patients' residential address.

Results: The virtual clinic effectively managed patients. Of the 175 patients, 48.6% completed treatment, and were discharged, and 53.7% were managed without face-to-face consultations. In addition, 66.3% did not need in-person visits; this includes patients treated and discharged and who were referred for investigations. In this clinic, avoiding 1 visit to the hospital by 116 patients saved travel of 1040 miles.

Conclusion: The widespread adoption of virtual clinics can provide a convenient and cost-effective health care solution for patients and also potentially help reduce carbon emissions contributing to control global warming.

Level of evidence: Level IV, retrospective case series.

虚拟诊所对精简NHS门诊等候名单和碳排放的影响。
背景:国民健康服务(NHS)门诊等候名单正在增长,影响到脚部和脚踝等专业。延迟是由于需求增加、资源有限和管理效率低下。正在探索虚拟诊所,以减轻诊所的实际负担并提供及时的护理。本研究调查了虚拟诊所在减少足部和踝关节专科的长时间等待时间方面的有效性。私家车排放的废气是气候变化的主要驱动因素,这是虚拟诊所的一个鲜为人知的好处。方法:我们分析了由专家顾问监督的虚拟选修足和踝关节诊所4个月以上新选修转诊的结果。175名患者的数据从我们的电子健康记录系统Lorenzo中收集。我们还评估了虚拟咨询在准确诊断和有效治疗方案方面的成功率。根据患者的居住地址测量到医院的距离。结果:虚拟诊所有效地管理了患者。175例患者中,48.6%的患者完成治疗并出院,53.7%的患者未进行面对面咨询。此外,66.3%的受访者不需要亲自访视;这包括接受治疗和出院以及转诊接受调查的患者。在这家诊所,116名患者避免了一次就诊,节省了1040英里的路程。结论:虚拟诊所的广泛采用为患者提供了一种方便、经济的医疗保健解决方案,并有可能有助于减少碳排放,从而控制全球变暖。证据级别:四级,回顾性病例系列。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics
Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics Medicine-Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
1152
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