Clinical trial NCT00105846: An Evaluation of Home-Based Telemedicine Services
Official title: An Evaluation of Home-Based Telemedicine Services
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Congestive Heart Failure
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Diabetes
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
First posted: 2005-03-18
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Tele-home health care, which providers for video interactions between home-based veterans and home care nurses, is a potentially useful adjunct to home care services. However, few randomized trials have been conducted of this technology.

Detailed description: Background:

Tele-home health care, which providers for video interactions between home-based veterans and home care nurses, is a potentially useful adjunct to home care services. However, few randomized trials have been conducted of this technology.

Objectives:

The primary objectives were to determine if tele-home health care patients, compared with patients receiving usual home care, have:1) higher levels of health related quality of life and home care satisfaction; 2) fewer inpatient admissions, hospital stays, and outpatient and emergency room visits; and 3) higher levels of home care access, in terms of the total number of contacts between HBPC nurses and patients.

Methods:

Patients were randomly assigned to the intervention or to the control group. Video tele-health units were installed in patient homes for the intervention group, and control group patients received usual home care services. Baseline and six month follow up surveys included questions on perceived health related quality of life and home care satisfaction. T-tests were used to compare intervention and control group members in terms of six month changes in health related quality of life and satisfaction with home care. Multivariate analyses were used to assess group differences in six month health care service use, with prior service use and survival included as covariates.

Status:

The study is completed, with a final enrollment of 37 patients. Three study manuscrip\[ts have been completed (two published and one under review).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Patients must be enrolled in the home care program at the Indianapolis VAMC and have at least: (a) 6 outpatient visits, one hospitalization, or 2 or more emergency room visits in the last twelve months, (b) a care plan specifying two or more skilled nursing visits per month, (c) an expected need for future home care visits for at least one month.

Exclusion Criteria:

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
state: Michigan
city: Indianapolis
country: United States
facility: Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN
state: Nebraska
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
name: Faith P. Hopp, PhD MA MSW
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Hopp F, Woodbridge P, Subramanian U, Copeland L, Smith D, Lowery J. Outcomes associated with a home care telehealth intervention. Telemed J E Health. 2006 Jun;12(3):297-307. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2006.12.297.
citation: Subramanian U, Hopp F, Lowery J, Woodbridge P, Smith D. Research in home-care telemedicine: challenges in patient recruitment. Telemed J E Health. 2004 Summer;10(2):155-61. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2004.10.155.
citation: Hopp F, Woodbridge P, Subramanian U, Copeland L, Smith D. Home telehealth's role in diabetes case management. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 2005 Apr 1; 11:220.