Incorporating telehealth into primary care resident outpatient training

General practitioner residents' experiences and perceptions of outpatient training in primary care settings in China: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

The implementation of outpatient training in primary care settings is an essential part of residency training for general practitioner (GP) residents. However, limited research exists on their experiences and perceptions of this training. This study aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions of GP residents regarding outpatient training in primary care settings in China and provide insights and recommendations to enhance training quality.

DESIGN

A qualitative descriptive study employing in-depth interviews.

SETTING

Two community healthcare centres (CHCs) that implement outpatient training programmes for GP residents in Zhejiang Province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 20 GP residents affiliated with 14 CHCs and two hospitals across Zhejiang Province and Guizhou Province who had completed outpatient training in either CHC for over 1 month.

RESULTS

Of the 20 participants in this study, 11 (55%) were women, and the mean age was 28 years. GP residents completed the process of consultation, physical examination and therapy independently; subsequently, the community preceptors provided feedback based on their clinical performance and modelled their clinical skills. The benefits perceived by GP residents included improved clinical skills and confidence in practice, and they learned approaches to maintaining good relationships with patients. They preferred dealing with complex cases, discussions with peers and the indirect supervision of community preceptors in the training session. Residents recommended that measures be taken to improve the training quality regarding patient selection and recruitment, clinical skills in the training session, and assessment of clinical performance.

CONCLUSIONS

The outpatient training in primary care settings provides constructive opportunities for GP residents to improve their professional competencies. Although the current training sessions and the abilities of community preceptors largely satisfy the needs of GP residents, further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of training and explore approaches to improve its quality.

An Educational Needs Assessment of Telehealth in Primary Care Among US Internal Medicine Residents

OBJECTIVES

As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, many Internal Medicine (IM) residency programs converted to telehealth for primary care. Our objectives in this study were to better understand resident past and present telehealth education, their perceived barriers to telehealth practice, and their perceived solutions to improving telehealth use and education.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional needs assessment survey between November 2020 and February 2021 among residents at 10 IM residency programs across the United States. Our primary measures were telehealth use in resident continuity clinics before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, telehealth training, and confidence and barriers in using telehealth.

RESULTS

Of 857 residents contacted, 314 (36.6%) responded. Residents reported low rates of education in telehealth prepandemic with significant improvements after the start of the pandemic across all visit domains (range of 10.7%-19.6% prepandemic compared with 25.6%-55.7% postpandemic, all P < 0.001). Resident confidence levels were significantly lower (P < 0.001) for video visits and telephone visits compared with in-person visiting across domains of communication, history taking, using an interpreter, making a diagnosis, counseling patients, providing psychosocial support, performing medical management, and coordinating after-visit care. Reported barriers included patient resources, clinic resources, lack of preceptor feedback, and lack of observation. Reported resources for improvement included tutorials on physical examination techniques, clinical space for telehealth, and patient resources for telehealth.

CONCLUSIONS

To effectively address the educational needs for telehealth practice by IM residents, educators must consider not only curricular needs but also clinical, preceptor, and patient barriers to the high-quality use of telehealth for primary care.

A systematic review of telemedicine systems use barriers: primary health care providers' perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this review paper was identifying barriers to the use of telemedicine systems in primary health-care individual level among professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used Scopus and PubMed databases for scientific records identification. A systematic review of the literature structured by PRISMA guidelines was conducted on 37 included papers published between 2009 and 2019. A qualitative approach was used to synthesize insights into using telemedicine by primary care professionals.

Findings

Three barriers were identified and classified: system quality, data quality and service quality barriers. System complexity in terms of usability, system unreliability, security and privacy concerns, lack of integration and inflexibility of systems-in-use are related to system quality. Data quality barriers are data inaccuracy, data timeliness issues, data conciseness concerns and lack of data uniqueness. Finally, service reliability concerns, lack of technical support and lack of user training have been categorized as service quality barriers.

Originality/value

This review identified and mapped emerging themes of barriers to the use of telemedicine systems. This paper also through a new conceptualization of telemedicine use from perspectives of the primary care professionals contributes to informatics literature and system usage practices.

Pediatric Intensive Care Hybrid-Style Clinical Round During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study

Objectives: With the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and the emphasis on social distancing to decrease the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers (HCWs), our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) piloted the integration of Zoom meetings into clinical rounds. We aimed to explore the feasibility of these hybrid virtual and physical clinical rounds for PICU patients. Design: Mixed quantitative and qualitative deductive thematic content analysis of narrative responses. Setting: PICU, single tertiary-care academic center. Participants: Multidisciplinary PICU HCWs. Interventions: Integration of Zoom meeting into clinical daily PICU rounds. Measurements: For the quantitative part, we gathered the details of daily PICU hybrid rounds in terms of times, number of HCWs, and type of files shared through Zoom. For the qualitative part, open-ended questions were used. Main Results: The physical round took statistically significantly less time (34.68 ± 14.842 min) as compared with the Zoom round (72.45 ± 22.59 min), p < 0.001. The most shared component in the virtual round was chest X-rays (93.5%). Thirty-one HCWs participated in focus group discussions and were included in the analysis. Some of the HCWs' perceived advantages of the hybrid rounds were enabling multidisciplinary discussions, fewer round interruptions, and practicality of virtual discussions. The perceived challenges were the difficulty of the bedside nurse attending the virtual round, decreased teaching opportunities for the trainees, and decreased interactions among the team members, especially if video streaming was not utilized. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary hybrid virtual and physical clinical rounds in the PICU were perceived as feasible by HCWs. The virtual rounds decreased the physical contact between the HCWs, which could decrease the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 spread among the treating team. Still, several components of the hybrid round should be optimized to facilitate the virtual team-members' interactions and enhance the teaching experience.

Evaluating the Educational Impact of Telehealth on Adolescent Medicine Trainees: a Qualitative Approach

Purpose of Review

Telehealth has been swiftly incorporated into clinical practice since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with limited understanding of how it affects trainees’ educational experiences. Our study evaluates the impact of telehealth on clinical education in pediatric and Adolescent Medicine trainees during the pandemic.

Recent Findings

Previous literature on telehealth focused on provider and patient perceptions in addition to clinical education for students, though none has evaluated the experiences of medical residents and fellows in Adolescent Medicine.

Summary

Trainees reported enhanced opportunities for bidirectional observation with attending physicians, increased flexibility for the trainee and families, and the opportunity to engage with adolescents in their home environment. Drawbacks include decreased physical exam skill-building and technological difficulties that can interrupt the learning experience. Telehealth is a valuable tool in clinical education and innovative strategies are needed to refine and enhance these educational experiences for pediatric and Adolescent Medicine trainees.

Telehealth Attitudes, Training, and Preparedness Among First-Year Internal Medicine Residents in the COVID-19 Era

Background: Telehealth, especially the use of real-time video and phone visits in ambulatory care, is increasingly important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current state of internal medicine (IM) interns' telehealth training at the start of residency is unknown. Objective: To characterize the attitudes, training, and preparedness of IM interns regarding the use of telehealth video and phone visits in ambulatory care. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of IM interns at four IM residency programs in the United States in 2020. Results: One hundred fifty-six surveys were analyzed (response rate 82%). Seventy-five percent of interns rated training in the use of real-time video and phone visits for ambulatory care as important or very important. The vast majority received no training (74%) or clinical experience (90% no prior video visits, 81% no prior phone visits) during medical school. More interns believed that primary care may be effectively delivered via video visits compared with phone visits (77% vs. 35%). Most interns (69%) missed clinical time during medical school due to the COVID-19 pandemic; 41% felt that the pandemic negatively affected their ambulatory care preparation. Overall, the majority of interns (58%) felt prepared for primary care; only 12% felt prepared to deliver primary care using either video or phone visits. Conclusions: Although IM interns had favorable attitudes toward video and phone visits, few had training or clinical experience; most felt unprepared. Residency programs may need to close training gaps for current interns in conducting telehealth video and phone visits.

[Ethical issues in primary care during the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic]

Las emergencias de salud pública, como la que estamos viviendo con la pandemia originada por el coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, han originado trágicas limitaciones de recursos que impiden salvar vidas. Provocan tensiones en la atención sanitaria centrada en el paciente como eje del sistema en condiciones normales, y en la misma atención sanitaria en situaciones de emergencia originadas en la COVID-19. En esta revisión abordamos algunos de los problemas asistenciales, organizativos y éticos que este escenario ha provocado en la atención primaria, como: cancelación de actividades programadas; escasa atención domiciliaria y seguimiento de pacientes ancianos, enfermos crónicos e inmovilizados; desabastecimiento de EPI y exposición al riesgo de los profesionales sanitarios, y finalmente los problemas asociados a la telemedicina y a la atención telefónica a los pacientes.

Developing a Telemedicine Curriculum for a Family Medicine Residency

Introduction

Telemedicine has rapidly become an essential part of primary care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, formal training in telemedicine during residency is lacking. We developed and implemented a telemedicine curriculum for a family medicine residency program and investigated its effect on resident confidence levels in practicing telemedicine.

Methods

We designed a process map of the telemedicine visit workflow at the residency clinic to identify key topics to cover in the curriculum. We created a live 50-minute didactic lecture on best practices in telemedicine, along with a quick-reference handout. We distributed pre- and postintervention surveys to current residents (N=24) to assess the effect of the educational intervention on their confidence in practicing telemedicine.

Results

Fourteen residents (58% response rate) completed all aspects of the study including both surveys and participation in the educational intervention. Confidence levels in conducting telemedicine visits increased in three of five domains: (1) virtual physical exam ( P=.04), (2) visit documentation (P=.03), and (3) virtually staffing with an attending ( P=.04). Resident interest in using telemedicine after residency also increased following the educational intervention.

Conclusion

Telemedicine requires a unique skill set. Formal education on best practices improves resident confidence levels and interest in practicing telemedicine. Primary care residency programs should incorporate telemedicine training to adequately prepare their graduates for clinical practice.

Telehealth for the internal medicine resident: A 3-year longitudinal curriculum

AIMS

Across the United States of America, patients are increasingly receiving healthcare using innovative telehealth technologies. As healthcare continues to shift away from traditional office-based visits, providers face new challenges. Telehealth champions are needed to adapt technologies to meet the needs of patients, providers and communities, especially within the realm of primary care specialties. Given these challenges, this intervention aimed to incorporate telemedicine into internal medicine resident training across multiple training years to prepare them for practice in the current and changing healthcare system.

METHODS

Education and telehealth leaders at the Medical University of South Carolina identified key topics relevant to telehealth and the provision of general internal medicine services. With this as a framework, we developed a 3-year longitudinal telehealth curriculum for internal medicine resident physicians, consisting of an introduction to telemedicine equipment in the first year, didactic learning through in-person education and online modules in the second year and experiential learning through remote monitoring of chronic disease in the third year. Participants included approximately 100 internal medicine residents per year (2016-2019). Self-perceived knowledge, comfort and ability to provide telehealth services was assessed via a survey completed before and after participation in the curriculum.

RESULTS

Resident physicians' self-reported knowledge of telehealth history, access to care, contributions of telehealth applications and quality of care and communication each improved after completion of the online curriculum. There were also significant improvements in resident comfort and perceived ability to provide telehealth services after participation in the curriculum, as assessed via a survey. Overall, 41% of residents felt their ability to utilize telehealth as part of their current or future practice was greater than average after completion of the online modules compared to only 2% at baseline (p<0.01). Results also show residents accurately identify barriers to telehealth adoption at the healthcare system level, including the lack of clinical time to implement services (67% post- vs 47% pre-curriculum, p = 0.02), unfamiliarity with concepts (65% post- vs 21% pre-curriculum, p<-0.01) and concerns about consistent provider reimbursement (74% post- vs 39% pre-curriculum, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring are an increasingly prevalent form of healthcare delivery. Internal medicine residents must be adept in caring for patients utilizing this technology. This curriculum was effective in improving resident comfort and self-efficacy in providing care through telehealth and provided residents with hands-on opportunities through supervised inclusion in remote patient-monitoring services. This curriculum model could be employed and evaluated within other internal medicine residency programmes to determine the feasibility at institutions with and without advanced telehealth centres.

Over Half of Family Medicine Residency Program Directors Report Use of Telehealth Services

Background: Little is known about the adoption of telehealth services among family medicine residency programs. Introduction: Using the 2015 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance Program Directors Fall Survey section on telehealth, the authors investigated how residency programs used telehealth services during calendar year 2015. Materials and Methods: The authors used bivariate analyses to examine how family medicine residency program characteristics vary by telehealth usage. Services provided through telehealth (live interactive video or e-visits and store-and-forward services), clinical purpose of use, frequency of use, and number of patients served were characterized. Results: Surveys reached 461 Family Medicine Residency program directors, and 207 surveys were eligible for analysis (44.9% response rate). Fifty-seven percent of family medicine residency director survey respondents reported that their residents used telehealth services in calendar year 2015. Most of the telehealth users reported providing only e-visits or store-and-forward services (70.6%), with 78% of the 106 programs indicating that they served as the sending site for these services. Altogether 29% of users reported providing visits using live interactive video, with ∼63% indicating that they served as the originating site for these services (i.e., where the patient is located). Discussion: Increasing and enhancing the use of telehealth services in residency programs might help increase telehealth use in other settings. Conclusions: Although the majority of family medicine residency programs indicated that they used telehealth services, the reported use was limited, with those who did use telehealth services doing so infrequently.

Nursing professionals' experiences of the facilitators and barriers to the use of telehealth applications: a systematic review of qualitative studies

The aim of the study was to synthesise the best available research evidence on nursing professionals' experiences of the facilitators and barriers to the use of online telehealth services in nursing practice. Telehealth is used to deliver healthcare services and health-related information by means of information and communication technology (ICT). The systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted using thematic synthesis of previous studies. International electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, Eric, Web of Science/Web of Knowledge and Scopus, and Finnish databases Medic and Ohtanen were searched in spring 2013. In addition, the search was complemented in fall 2015. Following critical appraisal, 25 studies from 1998 to fall 2015 were reviewed and the findings were synthesised. Both facilitators and barriers were grouped into five main categories which were related to nurses' skills and attitudes, nurses' work and operations, organisational factors, patients and technology. The highest number of facilitators and barriers was found in the category focusing on nurses' work and operations. Based on the findings, nurses' skills and attitudes are preventing factors in the implementation of telehealth. There is also a need to focus on patients' role in telehealth usage although the findings support positive adoption of ICT tools among patients. The findings call for further development of technological tools used in nursing practice and healthcare services. The change from traditional face-to-face nursing to the use of telehealth calls for local agreements and further discussions among professionals on how this change will be accepted and implemented into practice. In addition, organisations need to make sure that nurses have enough resources and support for telehealth use.

A comparison of rural speech-language pathologists' and residents' access to and attitudes towards the use of technology for speech-language pathology service delivery

This paper reports results and implications of two related studies which investigated (a) access of residents and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) of rural Australia to information and communication technologies (ICT) and (b) their attitudes towards the use of ICT for delivery of speech-language pathology services. Both studies used mail out questionnaires, followed by interviews with a subset of those who completed the questionnaires. Data were obtained from 43 questionnaires from rural residents and 10 interviews with a subset of those residents, and from questionnaires returned by 49 SLPs and 4 interviews with a subset of those SLPs. Results show a mismatch between rural residents' and SLPs' access to and attitudes towards use of ICT for speech-language pathology service delivery. Rural residents had better access and more positive attitudes to the use of ICT for speech-language pathology service delivery than expected by SLPs. The results of this study have important implications for education and professional development of SLPs and for research into the use of ICT for telespeech-language pathology.