Using telemedicine in the care of newborn infants after discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit reduced the need of hospital visits
Source: Robinson, C., et al. 2016 - Pubmed ID: 26999007
Setting: Sweden, Hospital
Study design:
RCT
Follow up: NA
Patient group:
Sample size:
Total: 89
IG: 47
CG: 42
Inclusion criteria:
- Families with newborn infants who were going to be discharged from the NICU to home care
Type of technology:
App
- Monitoring health and nutrition
- Messaging
Video call
Intervention:
Intervention: Parents encouraged to answer ten questions about the child’s health and nutrition on the web app every day. Parents could view data in graphic work and also message the nurses through the web app. Parents received scheduled video calls from nurses.
Duration: NA
Add on: +
Control group: Follow up hospital appointments
Clinical effect:
- Emergency visits to hospital↓
Patient safety: NA
Patient experiences/
Staff experiences:
Patient experiences:
- 92% found it easy to communicate with skype
- All the parents thought it was good to see their infant’s data on the web form
Staff experiences:
- The nurses thought that the web application was a useful tool in neonatal home health care
Investment:
Staff resources
- Developing app
- Training staff
Material
- Web cam
- Speakers
Running:
Staff resources
- Data monitoring
- Training patients
- Videocalls
Organization: NA
Health care utilization:
- Emergency visits to hospital↓