In order to minimise physical interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, telepsychiatry became a key part of clinical practice for many psychiatrists.

This study involved an exploratory, cross-sectional, opt-in online survey circulated to non-consultant doctors in psychiatry working in Ireland. It assessed experience and attitudes in relation to telepsychiatry use.

The response rate was 11.6% (n = 61). Forty-eight individuals (78.6%) had delivered clinical care using telepsychiatry. Fifty-nine individuals (96.7%) were unfamiliar with telepsychiatry prior to the pandemic. Most respondents had not received specific training around use of a telepsychiatry platform (86.9%, n = 63) and were unaware of published guidelines around its optimal use (54.1%, n = 33). Respondents’ concerns included issues around connectivity, medico-legal uncertainty and clinical effectiveness.

Conclusions drawn are limited by the potential for selection bias in this study. Nonetheless the paper has highlighted important issues including the need for more research assessing telepsychiatry clinical and curricular experience. Additional curricular interventions during training could build skillset and confidence in telepsychiatry.

Digital health technologies have been enhancing the capacity of healthcare providers and, thereby, the delivery of targeted health services. The Southeast Asia Region (SEAR) has invested in strengthening digital public health. Many digital health interventions have been implemented in public health settings but are rarely assessed using the holistic health technology assessment (HTA) approach.

A systematic literature review was performed to provide an overview of evaluations of digital public health interventions in the World Health Organization (WHO) SEAR. Searches were conducted on four electronic databases. Screening title abstracts and full texts was independently conducted by two reviewers, followed by data extraction. Dimensions of HTA were analyzed against the EUnetHTA Core Model 3.0. Quality assessment of included articles was conducted using the JBI Checklist for Economic Evaluation and Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards 2022 checklist to assess the reporting quality. The findings are presented using systematic evidence tables and bar charts.

Of the forty-three studies screened at the full-text stage, thirteen studies conducted across six countries were included in the analysis. Telemedicine and m-health interventions were assessed in ten studies. Nine studies conducted cost-effectiveness analysis, and five assessments were conducted from a societal perspective. Four studies utilized more than one perspective for the assessment. Health problem definition and current use of technology, description and technical characteristics of the technology, clinical effectiveness, costs, economic evaluation, and organizational aspects were assessed by all the studies, whereas legal aspects were least assessed.

The lack of HTAs on digital public health interventions in the region highlights the need for capacity-building efforts.

In recent years, the importance of telemedicine has increased significantly. Especially in the field of echocardiography, virtual reality glasses offer the possibility of real-time data transmission without restrictions in the examination process. In particular, the care of critically ill newborns with suspected CHD might be improved by allowing a specialized paediatric cardiologist to remotely guide an echocardiographic examination. The current study aims to prove whether novices, under Google Glass guidance by a paediatric cardiologist, can perform an appropriate neonatal echocardiography.

The current study is a prospective monocentric single-blinded pilot study. Participants were supposed to perform two test runs: The first test run was “unguided” and the second test run was instructed via Google Glass. A validated training simulator for neonatal echocardiography “EchocomNeo, Echocom GmbH” was used. The study took place at the Leipzig Heart Center, Department of Pediatric Cardiology from April 2022 to November 2022.

A total of 21 medical students were enrolled. In total 252 views (126 views in each test run) were recorded. The overall performance was significantly higher in the Google Glass guided test run compared to “unguided” (structure score: 77.6% vs. 63.2%. p < 0.001 and quality score: 58.7% vs. 47.2%, p < 0.001). Also, the time was significantly lower in the Google Glass guided test run than in the unguided test run, p = 0.014.

Google Glass guidance by a paediatric cardiologist could optimize the performance of novices in echocardiography using a standardized neonatal echo-simulator with structural normal cardiac anatomy.

Since COVID-19, Indonesia has legalized telemedicine in medical services, including Return to Work (RTW). RTW programs help occupational injury-disabled workers return to work. This research examines how telemedicine supports RTW for employees with occupational injuries.

The study used Interrupted Time Series Analysis (ITSA) to find patterns and trends in RTW program telemedicine case numbers and claim settlements over time. A total of 1 314 data were obtained from the Indonesian National Social Security Agency on Employment (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) from July 1, 2015, to December 2022.

Telemedicine reduces the frequency of recurrent occupational injuries in persons with impairments (Relative Risk [RR] = 0.59). In addition, the integration of telemedicine into health care practices exhibits promising prospects in terms of mitigating the financial burden on social security programs. This is supported by a robust RR (0.6).

Telemedicine reduced the number of repeat cases and optimized medical claims cost in the RTW program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results will contribute to policy and assist health care professionals and employers in improving RTW outcomes for disabled people.

Impaired motor and cognitive function can make travel cumbersome for People with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD). Over 50% of PwPD cared for at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Movement Disorders Clinic reside over 30 miles from Little Rock. Improving access to clinical care for PwPD is needed.

To explore the feasibility of remote clinic-to-clinic telehealth research visits for evaluation of multi-modal function in PwPD.

PwPD residing within 30 miles of a UAMS Regional health center were enrolled and clinic-to-clinic telehealth visits were performed. Motor and non-motor disease assessments were administered and quantified. Results were compared to participants who performed at-home telehealth visits using the same protocols during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Compared to the at-home telehealth visit group (n = 50), the participants from regional centers (n = 13) had similar age and disease duration, but greater disease severity with higher total Unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale scores (Z = −2.218, p = 0.027) and lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores (Z = −3.350, p < 0.001). Regional center participants had lower incomes (Pearson’s chi = 21.3, p < 0.001), higher costs to attend visits (Pearson’s chi = 16.1, p = 0.003), and lived in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods (Z = −3.120, p = 0.002). Prior research participation was lower in the regional center group (Pearson’s chi = 4.5, p = 0.034) but both groups indicated interest in future research participation.

Regional center research visits in PwPD in medically underserved areas are feasible and could help improve access to care and research participation in these traditionally underrepresented populations.

This study analyses outcomes for 660 patients managed via a novel telescopic pathway for suspected head and neck cancer referrals.

Data were collected prospectively between January 2021 and December 2022, capturing all two-week-wait referrals triaged as low risk and managed via a nurse-led clinic for nasendoscopic examination and consultant-led remote assessment.

In total, 660 patients were included. There were six head and neck cancers diagnosed, giving a conversion rate of 0.9 per cent. Mean (standard deviation) time to informing the patient whether they did or did not have cancer (28-day faster diagnosis standard) was 28.6 days (20.2), with no significant difference observed in patients imaged prior to review (p = 0.63). No missed cancers were detected in the follow-up period.

Low-risk head and neck cancer referrals can be safely managed in a nurse-led clinic for recorded examination with asynchronous consultant-led management. Further work is required to ensure adherence to the new faster diagnosis standard.

Telemedicine may improve healthcare access and efficiency if it demands less clinician time than usual care. We sought to describe the degree to which telemedicine trials assess the effect of telemedicine on clinicians’ time and to discuss how including the time needed to treat (TNT) in health technology assessment (HTA) could affect the design of telemedicine services and studies.

We conducted a scoping review by searching clinicaltrials.gov using the search term “telemedicine” and limiting results to randomized trials or observational studies registered between January 2012 and October 2023. We then reviewed trial registration data to determine if any of the outcomes assessed in the trials measured effect on clinicians’ time.

We found 113 studies and of these 78 studies of telemedicine met the inclusion criteria and were included. Nine (12 percent) of the 78 studies had some measure of clinician time as a primary outcome, and 11 (14 percent) as a secondary outcome. Four studies compared direct measures of TNT with telemedicine versus usual care, but no statistically significant difference was found. Of the sixteen studies including indirect measures of clinician time, thirteen found no significant effects, two found a statistically significant reduction, and one found a statistically significant increase.

This scoping review found that clinician time is not commonly measured in studies of telemedicine interventions. Attention to telemedicine’s TNT in clinical studies and HTAs of telemedicine in practice may bring attention to the organization of clinical workflows and increase the value of telemedicine.