International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications最新文献

{"title":"Factors Influencing Public Attitudes and Willingness to Utilize Telepharmacy Services in the UAE.","authors":"Anan S Jarab, Walid Al-Qerem, Tareq Mukattash, Ahmad Al-Azayzih, Zelal Kharaba, Shrouq Abu Heshmeh, Joud Al-Momani, Rama Hamdan, Yazid N Al Hamarneh, Judith Eberhardt","doi":"10.1155/2024/5755493","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/5755493","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Telepharmacy, utilizing telecommunications to dispense pharmaceutical products and deliver patient care, offers numerous benefits for both the public and pharmacists. Previous research on exploring attitudes and willingness to use telepharmacy services has primarily focused on pharmacists rather than the general population. <b>Aim:</b> This study is aimed at assessing the attitudes and willingness of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population to utilize telepharmacy services and identifying the factors influencing their inclination to use these services. <b>Methods:</b> In this cross-sectional study, a survey was distributed using convenience and snowball sampling to individuals aged 18 or older across the UAE through various social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The survey domains included sociodemographics, attitudes, and readiness to utilize a telepharmacy service. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the variables associated with participants' willingness to utilize telepharmacy in the future. <b>Results:</b> In total, 963 individuals participated in the study. Participants showed overall positive attitudes towards telepharmacy, with 70.9% believing that telepharmacy saved time and effort. While only 32% of the participants acknowledged that numerous telepharmacy services were available for use in the UAE, most were interested in using telepharmacy services in the future (79.2%). Participants who had higher attitude scores (AOR = 1.147, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-1.18) and those who had used these services previously (AOR = 3.270, 95% CI: 1.692-6.320) were more interested in using telepharmacy services in the future. <b>Conclusion:</b> Forthcoming healthcare strategies should focus on expanding the availability of telepharmacy services throughout various regions of the country. This expansion will facilitate the broader utilization of these services and ultimately contribute to improved health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11347028/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142074241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional and Nonfunctional Requirements of Virtual Clinic Mobile Applications: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Zahra Parsaei, Majid Jangi, Shahram Tahmasebian, Asghar Ehteshami","doi":"10.1155/2024/7800321","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/7800321","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Introduction:</b> The Virtual Clinic Mobile Application (VCMA) is a valuable tool for managing and remotely monitoring patients with various medical conditions. It can alleviate the strain on outpatient services and offer follow-up options for patients who do not require a physical examination. A thorough understanding of recent literature can assist in identifying suitable functionalities for new development and future improvement of current applications (apps). This review study is aimed at identifying functional and nonfunctional requirements for VCMA. <b>Methods:</b> This study conducted a systematic search using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Science Direct, ProQuest, and IEEE to gather requirements of VCMA articles published in English from the inception of the databases up to April 2022. Out of a total of 1223 articles, 76 met the inclusion criteria. These articles were then analyzed using conventional content analysis to extract and categorize their requirements. <b>Results:</b> Two main themes and 8 subthemes in terms of VCMA requirements were extracted as follows: (1) functional requirements with 3 subthemes (demographic data documentation, health record, general features of the user interface (UI)); (2) nonfunctional requirements with 5 subthemes (usability, accessibility, compatibility, efficiency, and security). <b>Conclusion:</b> The findings highlight the importance of mHealth solutions for virtual care and the need for the development of apps based on the extracted functional and nonfunctional requirements for VCMA; however, controlled trials are necessary. It is recommended that transparent reporting of mHealth interventions be prioritized to enable effective interpretation of the extracted data.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11186682/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141427920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Barriers and Facilitators Experienced During the Implementation of Web-Based Teleradiology System in Public Hospitals of the Northwest Ethiopia: An Interpretive Description Study.","authors":"Araya Mesfin Nigatu, Tesfahun Melese Yilma, Lemma Derseh Gezie, Yonathan Gebrewold, Monika Knudsen Gullslett, Shegaw Anagaw Mengiste, Binyam Tilahun","doi":"10.1155/2024/5578056","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/5578056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Introduction:</b> Teleradiology allows distant facilities to electronically transmit images for interpretation, thereby bridging the radiology service gap between urban and rural areas. The technology improves healthcare quality, treatment options, and diagnostic accuracy. However, in low resource settings like Ethiopia, teleradiology services are limited, posing challenges for implementation. Therefore, this study is aimed at exploring the factors that facilitated or hindered the implementation of web-based teleradiology in the public hospitals of the South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. <b>Methods:</b> In this study, a purposive sampling method was employed to select seventeen participants, including hospital managers, physicians, emergency surgeons, and radiologists, for an in-depth interview (IDI). The interviews were conducted from March to May 2023. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted using an abductive coding technique at the semantic/explicit level. Data were collected through semistructured interviews conducted face-to-face and virtually, with audio recordings transcribed, translated, and analyzed using Open Code version 4.02 software. Trustworthiness was ensured through prolonged engagement, reflective journaling, and review by coauthors. <b>Results:</b> The study examined eight main themes, with barriers to sustainable teleradiology implementation falling into five categories: technological, organizational, environmental, individual, and workflow and communication. Conversely, identified facilitators included improved radiology service efficiency, system accessibility, collaboration opportunities, and user trust in the radiology ecosystem. Within each theme, factors with potential impacts on teleradiology system sustainability were identified, such as the lack of system handover mechanisms, absence of a central image consultation center, and inadequate staffing of full-time radiologists and technical personnel. <b>Conclusions:</b> The study highlights the positive user perception of a web-based teleradiology system's user-friendliness and efficiency. Overcoming challenges and leveraging facilitators are crucial for optimizing teleradiology and improving service delivery and patient outcomes. A centralized consultation center with dedicated radiologists and technical personnel is recommended for maximizing efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11178418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141332185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Ensemble Feature Selection Approach-Based Machine Learning Classifiers for Prediction of COVID-19 Disease","authors":"Md.Jakir Hossen, T. Ramanathan, Abdullah Al Mamun","doi":"10.1155/2024/8188904","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/8188904","url":null,"abstract":"The respiratory disease of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc on the economy of every nation by infecting and killing millions of people. This deadly disease has taken a toll on the life of the entire human race, and an exact cure for it is still not developed. Thus, the control and cure of this disease mainly depend on restricting its transmission rate through early detection. The detection of coronavirus infection facilitates the isolation and exclusive care of infected patients. This research paper proposes a novel data mining system that combines the ensemble feature selection method and machine learning classifier for the effective identification of COVID-19 infection. Different feature selection approaches including chi-square test, recursive feature elimination (RFE), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and random forest are evaluated for their effectiveness in enhancing the classification accuracy of the machine learning classifiers. The classifiers that are considered in this research work are decision tree, naïve Bayes, K-nearest neighbor (KNN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and support vector machine (SVM). Two COVID-19 datasets were used for testing from which the best features supporting the dataset were extracted by the proposed system. The performance of the machine learning classifiers based on the ensemble feature selection methods is analyzed.","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140692763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of Goal Achievement during an Early, Intensive Nutrition Intervention Delivered to People with Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer by Telephone Compared with Mobile Application","authors":"K. Furness, C. Huggins, Lauren Hanna, D. Croagh, M. Sarkies, Terry P. Haines","doi":"10.1155/2024/7841826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/7841826","url":null,"abstract":"Objective This study is aimed at exploring whether the mode of nutrition intervention delivery affected participant goal achievement in a three-arm randomised controlled trial of early and intensive nutrition intervention delivered to upper gastrointestinal cancer patients. Methods Newly diagnosed upper gastrointestinal cancer patients were recruited from four tertiary hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. Participants in the intervention groups received a regular nutrition intervention for 18 weeks from an experienced dietitian via telephone or mobile application (app) using behaviour change techniques to assist in goal achievement. Univariate and multiple regression models using STATA determined goal achievement, dose, and frequency of contact between groups. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The telephone group (n = 38) had 1.99 times greater frequency of contact with the research dietitian (95% CI: 1.67 to 2.36, p < 0.001) and 2.37 times higher frequency of goal achievement (95% CI: 1.1 to 5.11, p = 0.03) compared with the mobile app group (n = 36). The higher dose (RR 0.03) of intervention and more behaviour change techniques employed in the telephone group compared with the mobile app group increased participant goal achievement (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04, p < 0.001). Discussion. Telephone nutrition intervention delivery led to a higher frequency of goal achievement compared to the mobile app intervention. There was also a higher number of behaviour change techniques employed which may have facilitated the greater goal achievement. Mobile app-based delivery may have poorer acceptance in this population with high levels of withdrawal. Practice Implications. We need to ensure that specifically designed technologies for our target populations are fit for purpose, efficacious, and acceptable to both patients and healthcare providers. This trial is registered with ACTRN12617000152325.","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140380019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Screening for Atrial Fibrillation by Digital Health Technology in Older People in Homecare Settings: A Feasibility Trial","authors":"E. L. Sandberg, S. Halvorsen, Trygve Berge, Jostein Grimsmo, D. Atar, B. Grenne, J. Jortveit","doi":"10.1155/2024/4080415","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/4080415","url":null,"abstract":"Aims Users of homecare services are often excluded from clinical trials due to advanced age, multimorbidity, and frailty. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and frequently undiagnosed arrhythmia in the elderly and is associated with severe mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs. Timely identification prevents associated complications through evidence-based treatment. This study is aimed at assessing the feasibility of AF screening using new digital health technology in older people in a homecare setting. Methods Users of homecare services ≥ 65 years old with at least one additional risk factor for stroke in two Norwegian municipalities were assessed for study participation by nurses. Participants performed a continuous prolonged ECG recording using a patch ECG device (ECG247 Smart Heart Sensor). Results A total of 144 individuals were assessed for study participation, but only 18 (13%) were included. The main reasons for noninclusion were known AF and/or anticoagulation therapy (25%), severe cognitive impairment (26%), and lack of willingness to participate (36%). The mean age of participants performing the ECG test was 81 (SD ± 7) years, and 9 (50%) were women. All ECG tests were interpretable; the mean ECG monitoring time was 104 hours (IQR 34-338 hours). AF was detected in one individual (6%). Conclusion This feasibility study highlights the challenges of enrolling older people receiving homecare services in clinical trials. However, all included participants performed an interpretable and prolonged continuous ECG recording with a digital ECG patch device. This trial is registered with NCT04700865.","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140381582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Telehealth and Technology for Diabetes in Pregnancy Clinics: Staff Perspectives from South Auckland, New Zealand.","authors":"Megan Singhal, Charlotte Oyston","doi":"10.1155/2024/6429519","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/6429519","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Providing care for patients with diabetes in pregnancy (DiP) provides unique challenges beyond those faced in standard antenatal care or diabetes outside of pregnancy. Teleclinics (use of telephone, email, or other technologies) as an alternative to in-person clinic appointments have become more widely used for care since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand how teleclinics might be improved for ongoing use, it is important to understand the experiences and perceptions of the clinicians involved in DiP care. <i>Aim</i>. To understand staff experiences of DiP teleclinics and gain their perspectives on if and how teleclinics and other technologies might be best used in the future. <i>Methods</i>. A qualitative study using semistructured interviews of healthcare providers in a large DiP service. Twenty staff members (midwifery, obstetrics, physician, dietician, and administration) were approached to participate. Fifteen staff across 5 specialties consented to be interviewed. Template analysis of interview transcripts was performed, with a focus on 3 themes: collaboration and working together are important for providing care for DiP, a need for flexibility in scheduling and the ability to individualise the way care is provided, and challenges to adapting to new technology. <i>Results</i>. Potential benefits of teleclinics were acknowledged, but respondents also viewed teleclinics as not suitable for all DiP patients due to different needs and risks. Challenges to using teleclinics include establishing good rapport and the current limited infrastructure and patient resources. <i>Conclusion</i>. Healthcare providers viewed teleclinics as a way of supporting rather than replacing current care. Maintaining flexibility in clinic scheduling to allow incorporation of teleclinics into patient's current schedule of visits <i>ad hoc</i> and providing extra technical and administrative support are important considerations for developing a teleclinic service.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10957257/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140185960","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High Diagnostic Accuracy of Long-Term Electrocardiogram Interpretation by General Practitioners.","authors":"Jarle Jortveit, Miroslav Boskovic, Edvard Liljedahl Sandberg, Jonas Vegsundvåg, Sigrun Halvorsen","doi":"10.1155/2024/6624344","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/6624344","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Traditional long-term ECG monitoring systems have primarily been used by cardiologist. New remote and wearable easy-to-use devices have led to increased use of ECG recordings also outside cardiology clinics. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of interpretation of the one-lead ECG recordings from a patch ECG device (ECG247 Smart Heart Sensor system) by general practitioners (GP).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Norwegian GPs were invited to digitally assess 10 long-term ECG recordings with different arrhythmias performed by the ECG247 Smart Heart Sensor system. For all ECG examinations, the presence/absence of different arrhythmias was registered.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 40 GPs accepted the invitation and assessed all the 10 long-term ECG recordings. All the tests were assessed as interpretable by all the GPs. Arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation/flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia) were correctly identified in most cases, with sensitivity of 98% (95% CI 95-99%), specificity of 75% (95% CI 68-82%), and diagnostic accuracy of 89% (85-92%). Incorrect automatic system algorithm interpretations were rarely corrected by the GPs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>GPs interpreted one-lead recordings by the ECG247 Smart Heart Sensor system with high diagnostic accuracy for common arrhythmias. However, in cases with rare arrhythmias, we recommend consulting a cardiologist to confirm the diagnosis before treatment is initiated. This trial is registered with NCT04700865.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10904176/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139997817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feasibility of Leveraging Consumer Wearable Devices with Data Platform Integration for Patient Vital Monitoring in Low-Resource Settings.","authors":"Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Richmond Tackie, J Benjamin Pitt, Samuel Mba, Bismark Akwetey, Danielle Quaye, Godfrey Mills, Clement Nyame, Henry Bulley, Matthew Glucksberg, Hassan Ghomrawi, William Appeadu-Mensah, Fizan Abdullah","doi":"10.1155/2024/8906413","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2024/8906413","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Manual monitoring of vital signs, which often fails to capture the onset of deterioration, is the main monitoring modality in most Ghanaian hospitals due to the high cost and inadequate supply of patient bedside monitors. Consumer wearable devices (CWDs) are emerging, relatively low-cost technologies for continuous monitoring of physiological status; however, their validity has not been established in low-resource clinical settings. We aimed to (1) investigate the validity of the heart rate (HR) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) data from two widely used CWDs, the Fitbit Versa 2 and Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6, against gold standard bedside monitors in one Ghanaian hospital and (2) develop a web application to capture and display CWD data in a clinician-friendly way. A healthy volunteer simultaneously wore both CWDs and blood pressure cuffs to measure HR and SpO2. To test for concordance, we conducted the Bland-Altman and mean absolute percentage error analyses. We also developed a web application that retrieves and displays CWD data in near real time as text and graphical trends. Compared to gold standards (patient monitor and manual), the Fitbit Versa 2 had 96.87% and 96.67% measurement accuracies for HR, and the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 had 94.24% and 93.21% measurement accuracies for HR. The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 had 98.79% measurement accuracy for SpO2. The strong concordance between CWD and gold standards supports the potential implementation of these devices as a novel method of vital sign monitoring to replace manual monitoring, thus saving costs and improving patient outcomes. Further studies are needed for confirmation.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10869189/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139742290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing Aotearoa, New Zealand's Free Healthline Service through Image Upload Technology.","authors":"Miriama K Wilson, Fiona Pienaar, Ruth Large, Matt Wright, Verity F Todd","doi":"10.1155/2024/6644580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/6644580","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Healthline is one of the 39 free telehealth services that Whakarongorau Aotearoa/New Zealand Telehealth Services provides to New Zealanders. In early 2021, an image upload system for viewing service user-uploaded images was implemented into the Healthline service.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>The aim of this research was to understand the utilisation of Healthline's image upload system by clinicians and service users in New Zealand.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This is a retrospective observational study analysing Healthline image upload data over a two-year period: March 2021 through to December 2022. A total of 40,045 images were analysed, including demographics of the service users who uploaded an image: ethnicity, age group, and area of residence. The outcome or recommendation of the Healthline call was also assessed based on whether an image was included.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Images uploaded accounted for 6.0% of total Healthline calls (<i>n</i> = 671,564). This research found that more service users were advised to go to an Emergency Department if they did not upload an image compared to service users who used the tool (13.5% vs. 7.7%), whereas a higher proportion of service users were given a lower acuity outcome if they included an image, including visiting an Urgent Care (24.0% vs. 16.9%) and GP (36.7% vs. 24.3%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Service users who did not upload an image had a higher proportion of Emergency Department outcomes than service users who did use the tool. This image upload tool has shown the potential to decrease stress on Emergency Departments around Aotearoa, New Zealand, through increased lower acuity outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":45630,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10857879/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139724440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}