SAT0726-HPR EHEALTH CONSULTATIONS IN RHEUMATOLOGY MANAGED BY NURSING. SPANISH NATIONAL DESCRIPTIVE STUDY
Authors: Silvia Garcia Diaz
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background</h3> The increase in social media applications and electronic technology has made it possible to carry out consultations with patients using an electronic interface. These tools are used in the healthcare environment for the purpose of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and in health management, to save costs to the health system by improving its effectiveness [1-4]. For patients with rheumatic diseases these non-face-to-face eHealth consultations, carried out by specialized nurses have been shown to resolve a large part of the problems that these patients may present with [5-8]. However we do not know how many of these types of consultations are taking place in Spain. <h3>Objectives</h3> The aim of this study was to describe the content of these types of consultations, mostly managed by nursing, in the Spanish national territory. <h3>Methods</h3> A descriptive study of a group of nurses working actively in rheumatology was carried out in November 2018. The data collection was done using a Google-form questionnaire developed for that purpose by the members of the Nursing Working Group from the Rheumatology Spanish Society (GTE-SER). The main variables studied were the socio-demographic details of the group and the content of the activity carried out mainly by them in the eHealth consultations. This instrument had 31 questions, with wide variability of response. Statistical analysis: descriptive statistics was used. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 47 (out of 50) completed surveys were analysed. 94% of the nurses were women, from 15 Spanish Autonomous Communities, with an average age between 51-60yo; 52% had education at postgraduate level (17%) or master’s degree (35%). 47% of professionals had been working in rheumatology for more than 10 years and 77% had received specific training in rheumatology. 37% reported having between 1-5 years experience of using e-Health consultation in rheumatology. The average of monthly consultations was between 50-100 sessions. Further details of the eHealth consultations in Rheumatology: see Table 1. <h3>Conclusion</h3> EHealth consultations are already established in many Rheumatology services in Europe. However, this has not been described in Spain. The survey showed that there is a great variability in the way nurses carry out this type of consultations, including the number and type of consultation (on demand and/or scheduled), registration and analysis of the data of this consultation as well as its quality standards. This study demonstrates a lack of regulated training and standardized protocols in managing this type of consultation at the national level. Therefore standards and protocols should be developed in the near future, so that patients receive a more consistent service from this type of consultation. <h3>Reference</h3> [1] Chiranjeev Sanyal, et al. 2018; [2] Hughes RA, et al. (2002); [3] Royal College of Nursing (2006); [4] Ferreira R, et al. (2014); [5] GESVR 2013; [6] C. Nájera Herranz, et al. (2013); [7] C. Thwaites, et al. (2008); [8] Garcia-Diaz S, et al. (2015) <h3>Acknowledgement</h3> Professor Claire Hale and all the participants <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None declared