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ISRCTN
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ISRCTN54264250
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ClinicalTrials.gov identifier
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Public title
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Virtual Outreach: a randomised controlled trial and economic appraisal
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Scientific title
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Acronym
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N/A
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Serial number at source
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HTA 96/02/05
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Study hypothesis
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The project was designed to evaluate the feasibility of teleconferenced medical consultations (TMCs) at the interface between primary and secondary care. The key research objectives were:
1. To determine the views of specialists, GPs and patients about TMCs
2. To test the feasibility of TMCs
3. To determine which specialties are most suited to TMCs
4. To make plans for a randomised controlled trial of TMCs.
The key issues of interest related to the relative value of real time teleconferenced medical consultations (TMCs) as an alternative to routine outpatient referral. The study was designed to evaluate the potential of TMCs to improve patients¿ health and satisfaction, and to lead to more efficient usage of health service resources in terms of tests and investigations, procedures, operations and prescriptions. We were particularly interested to find out whether the joint consultations could reduce the number of outpatient and GP consultations following the index consultation. In addition, the study was designed to examine the educational and organisational impact of TMCs. The pilot study was carried out in order to test the feasibility of a full-scale trial. In particular we wished to find out whether we could recruit adequate numbers of patients, whether standard instruments could be used effectively to measure the key outcomes, and whether we would be able to measure the educational and organisational impact of introducing TMCs.
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Ethics approval
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Not provided at time of registration.
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Study design
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Randomised controlled trial
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Countries of recruitment
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United Kingdom
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Disease/condition/study domain
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Teleconferenced medical consultations
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Participants - inclusion criteria
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All patients referred by the participating general practitioners for a hospital specialist opinion in the following specialty areas: ENT medicine, general medicine (including endocrinology and rheumatology), gastroenterology, orthopaedics, neurology and urology
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Participants - exclusion criteria
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Not provided at time of registration.
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Anticipated start date
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01/06/1998
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Anticipated end date
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31/10/2001
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Status of trial
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Completed |
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Patient information material
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Target number of participants
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2,094
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Interventions
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Videoconference link (tele-consultation) versus routine hospital outpatients consultation
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Primary outcome measure(s)
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The following instruments were used in the trial:
1. A patient demographic and personal details questionnaire
2. S F12 generic measure of well-being
3. Ware Specific Visit Questionnaire (SVQ) for patient satisfaction
4. Speiberger Standing State Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
5. A patient cost questionnaire
6. Duke Severity of Illness questionnaire (DUSOI) to measure the co-morbidity or burden of illness
7. Protocol specifically designed to extract data for hospital and GP records
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Secondary outcome measure(s)
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Not provided at time of registration.
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Sources of funding
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NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme - HTA (UK)
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Trial website
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Publications
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1. 2004 HTA monograph in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15546515
3. 2003 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12855528
4. 2002 main results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12076550
5. 2002 publication on design and performance of the trial in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11835692
2. 2002 protocol in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11835692
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Contact name
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Prof
Paul
Wallace
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Address
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Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences
Royal Free and University College Medical School
Rowland Hill Street
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City/town
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London
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Zip/Postcode
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NW3 2PF
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Country
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United Kingdom
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Tel
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+44 (0)20 7830 2339
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Fax
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+44 (0)20 7830 2338
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Email
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p.wallace@pcps.ucl.ac.uk
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Sponsor
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Department of Health (UK)
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Address
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Quarry House
Quarry Hill
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City/town
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Leeds
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Zip/Postcode
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LS2 7UE
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Country
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United Kingdom
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Email
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Sheila.Greener@doh.gsi.gov.uk
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Sponsor website:
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http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm
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Date applied
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09/01/2002
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Last edited
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25/08/2009
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Date ISRCTN assigned
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09/01/2002
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