+44 7480725689Arun Aggarwal
Neurology, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
ScientificTracks Abstracts: Res Rev Neurosci
Background: Patients with chronic disease in rural and remote regions endure limited access to specialised medicine. Telehealth has adequately addressed this issue with demonstrable benefits such as a reduction in costs to patients. Its expansion, however, has been met with various barriers. Aim: This study aimed to explore the patient satisfaction of Telehealth in Australia. Methods: Patients from all around Australia were referred to a Sydney based neurologist. After their initial face to face consultation, review consultations were performed by Telehealth. All patients had chronic diseases, such as trigeminal neuralgia, facial pain or Parkinson's disease. Each patient received a standardised questionnaire comprising of demographics and satisfaction of technical aspects, quality of the consultation, overall experience, willingness to use Telehealth again and recommend to others. The questionnaires were administered by the Practice Manager to remove observer bias and were completed by patients seen across 12 months. Results: Twenty-nine (29) patient questionnaires were completed by thirteen (13) patients who had follow-up Telehealth consultations. 100% of patients reported satisfaction with the overall telehealth experience and would use it again and recommend it to others. All were satisfied with the specialist and the privacy. 86% conveyed satisfaction with the voice quality, 79% with the visual Conclusion: Telehealth has proven to have multiple advantages, including improved access to health care, decreased costs, reduced inconvenience and improved management of chronic and complex conditions. The positive results advocate the use of Telehealth for follow-up of rural and remote patients with chronic disease states that do not require re-examination at each review consultation.
Arun Aggarwal MBBS, FRACP, FAFRM (RACP), FFPM (ANCZA), PhD, Professor Arun Aggarwal is a VMO Neurologist at Concord hospital, a Chronic Pain Specialist at the RPAH Pain Clinic and a Rehabilitation Physician at Balmain, MetroRehab and Hunters Hunters Hill Private hospitals in Sydney, Australia. He has held an academic appointment at The University of Sydney Medical School since 2010. He also has busy private practice.
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