The Importance Of Island Health Telehealth Services

Island Health Telehealth services connect patients with their out of town providers via video conferencing. The Island Health Telehealth team uses surveys and statistics to closely monitor the usage of Telehealth services throughout its jurisdiction. Through the weekly room utilization statistics for Campbell River and Nanaimo, it is clear that Telehealth in these locations is not being used to its maximum potential. This triggered the research question, “What do Island Health programs and providers think about Telehealth and how can we increase its clinical adoption?” In order to find this answer we studied the results from a past Telehealth survey titled “Telehealth Provider Survey: How are we doing?” distributed in December 2014 and January 2015. This voluntary survey was distributed to all Island Health staff through a weekly Island Health electronic newsletter titled “The Weekly: Important Updates for All Island Health Staff, Physicians and Volunteers.” The intent of this survey was to engage …show more content…
Firstly, 37.5% of respondents know what Telehealth is but are not currently using it for patient consultations (Table 3). Twenty-eight point one percent of respondents are currently supporting Telehealth for patient consultations. Eighteen point eight percent of respondents participate in Telehealth consultations, while 15.6% of respondents do not know what Telehealth is or how it is used. For those who support Telehealth consultations – 15 respondents or just less than half of the respondents – 26.7% of them use it once a week (Table 4). Twenty percent of respondents use it 3-4 times a year, once a month, and more than once a week respectively. Thirteen point three percent of respondents support Telehealth 6-12 times per year. These results highlight Telehealth’s end users within Island Health and how often Telehealth consults are being