Satellite-supplementation of Medical Outreach Clinics: a Feasibility Study

Mayo Clinic

Status: Completed

Conditions: Diagnosis; Developing Countries; Primary Health Care; Telemedicine; Therapeutics

Treatments: Other: Telemedicine; Other: In-person physician interaction

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01821014

13-000132

Details and patient eligibility

About

Much of the basic general medical care and chronic disease management in rural Honduras comes from groups of volunteers setting up temporary clinics run by volunteers. These clinics, also known as brigades, or medical missions, are often criticized for their lack of quality and the lack of follow-up, both of which stem, in part, from understaffing with volunteer physicians. This study is designed to assess if it is feasible, safe, and acceptable to treat patients in short-term mobile medical clinics in rural Honduras using US physicians connected with patients by videoconference.

Enrollment: 144 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Able to give informed consent
• Non-emergent medical complaints
• At least 18 yrs in age

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnancy
• Mental Disability

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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144 participants in 3 patient groups

Telemedicine First

Experimental group

Description:

Patients whose first physician visit during the clinic was using videoconference, a form of telemedicine, and whose second physician visit during the clinic was with a physician in-person.

Treatment:

Other: In-person physician interaction

Other: Telemedicine

Telemedicine Second

Experimental group

Description:

Patients whose first physician visit during the clinic was with a physician in-person, and whose second physician visit during the clinic was using videoconference, a form of telemedicine. This is the reverse order of visits of the "Telemedicine fist" arm.

Treatment:

Other: In-person physician interaction

Other: Telemedicine

Two physician visits

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients who had two sequential visits with different in-person physicians.

Treatment:

Other: In-person physician interaction