Web consultation saves time for doctors

Itching, stinging pain, and sleepless nights. For many families with small children who develop atopic eczema, this is an everyday situation. On top of that, waiting times may be long and they may be far away from the dermatologist when they need help.

 

"For these families, there is no question that it is easier to fill in a web form, send a message to the dermatologist – and receive a reply the same day about how they should treat the eczema outbreak. But up to now, few studies have been conducted on how web consultations affect the dermatologist's working day," says dermatologist Thomas Roger Schopf.

 

 

Together with paediatrician Roald Bolle at the University Hospital of North Norway, he has explored this issue – with good results. It turns out that it takes less time for doctors to respond to enquiries from families in this way than for an ordinary examination. 

 

Analysis of the material from the study showed that in 60% of the cases it took less than five minutes to answer the parents' question, while 32% of the enquiries took between five and 10 minutes of the workday. Only 8% of the enquiries took more than 10 minutes to answer. In comparison, an ordinary consultation takes about 20 minutes. 

 

"Previous studies have shown that patients are satisfied with this type of consultation, and that the treatment they get is just as good. Our study now shows that doctors also save time with a web solution like this," says Schopf.

 

 

The study also shows that he needed more time to answer messages where the parents had included photographs of the eczema outbreak as well as describing it on a web form and in free text. But he and the co-authors of the article have not conducted a systematic analysis of exactly how much longer it took.

 

"On the other hand, a photo gives the dermatologist much more and better information than he or she would get from text alone. The prerequisite is that the picture is sharp enough to use, that it is taken under good lighting conditions, and that the colours in the picture are correct," adds Schopf. 

 

The seasons also have a considerable impact on the amount of time taken. In the winter months, which in the project are defined as October to March, the incidence of eczema is higher and the outbreaks are more severe. This in turn leads to more complicated guidance and takes more time.

 

 

Twelve families took part in the study from January 2007 to June 2008. In total, they sent 93 enquiries to dermatologist Thomas Roger Schopf at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN)) and the Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine (NST). 

 

The messages were sent using the encrypted web solution "Min Doktor [My Doctor]", and Schopf logged on to the system twice a day to check whether any new messages had arrived. If there was new work in the inbox, it was normally dealt with on the same day, and each time he logged how long it took him to respond to the enquiries. 

 

 

 

Dermatologist and PhD student Thomas Roger Schopf, telephone 915 27 503

and email thomas.roger.schopf@telemed.no

 

BMC Research Notes 2010, 3:71. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-3-71. ISSN 1756-0500