Evaluation of the Effects of Teleconsultations on a Endocrinology Referral List

Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Evaluation of the Effectivity of Teleconsultations for Improving the Referrals From Primary Care to Specialized Care of Patients With Chronic Endocrinological Conditions

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02710799
• Other study ID #: 32981014.0.0000.5327
• Secondary ID: U1111-1179-2949
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: March 7, 2016
• Last updated: August 8, 2016
• Start date: June 2015
• Est. completion date: June 2016

Study information

• Verified date: August 2016
• Source: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Brazil: National Committee of Ethics in Research
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The aim of this study is evaluate the effects of telephone teleconsultations to primary care physicians (compared to the state's referral protocol) in the referrals waiting list for endocrinological appointments.

Description:

Rio Grande do Sul state's referral list for endocrinology evaluation in specialized care is highly overloaded. There is currently a referral protocol to select patients how should be referred. It will be evaluated if a intervention of telephone-based teleconsultations provided by the TelessaúdeRS to the primary care physicians can provide additional benefits. TelessaúdeRS is a telehealth program from the University of Rio Grande do Sul. This will be evaluated in a cluster randomized clinical trial.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 3470
• Est. completion date: June 2016
• Est. primary completion date: June 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients from counties with at least 5 endocrinology referrals waiting appointment.

• Patients referred from primary care physicians

• Patients referred because one of the protocol conditions (Diabetes Mellitus, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Goiter, Thyroid nodule, Obesity).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients from counties with more than one hundred endocrinology referrals waiting appointment.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Investigator), Primary Purpose: Health Services Research

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Diabetes Mellitus
• Goiter
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hypothyroidism
• Obesity
• Thyroid Nodule

Intervention

Other:
• Teleconsultation
The teleconsultations will be performed by medical doctors, mostly family physicians, but also internists and endocrinologists. The teleconsultations will follow a structured format to discuss some topics on the disease and access the relevant information (based on the state's protocols). The doubts from the primary care physician will be addressed.
• Protocol
The informations provided in the referral list will be evaluated through the state's referrals protocols.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Brazil	Secretaria Estadual da Saúde	Porto Alegre	Rio Grande do Sul

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre	Programa de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia da UFRGS, Secretaria Estadual da Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, TelessaúdeRS / UFRGS

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Brazil, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Number of consultations authorized	Number of consultations authorized after the evaluation by the control and intervention strategies.	1 year	No
Secondary	Number of new referrals for endocrinology	Total number of new referrals performed by the county.	1 year	No
Secondary	Adherence to the state's protocols	Number of new referrals for endocrinology with adequate informations according to the state's protocols.	1 year	No
Secondary	Usage of TelessaúdeRS teleconsultations	Total number of calls to TelessaúdeRS hotline (available to every primary care physician working in brazilian public health system)	1 year	No