Building the Evidence Base for Tele-Emergency Care: Efforts to Identify a Standardized Set of Outcome Measures

摘要

Background:To enhance the quality of emergency department (ED) care, some rural hospitals have adopted the use of telemedicine (tele-ED). Without a common set of metrics, it is difficult to quantify the impact of this technology.Introduction:To address this limitation, the Health Resources and Services Administration funded the identification and testing of a core set of measures that could be used to build a business case for the value of tele-ED care.Methods:A comprehensive environmental scan was conducted to identify existing measures relevant to assessing ED care and the use of telemedicine. Identified measures were assessed against a set of criteria and pilot tested in rural hospitals.Results:The environmental scan identified numerous ED-specific measures and a limited set of telehealth-specific measures, but no clearly defined measures specific to tele-ED. Applying evaluation criteria to the measures revealed that few have a well-established evidence base, and fewer have undergone the rigorous testing needed to establish statistical reliability and validity. Nevertheless, a parsimonious set of measures was identified that met many of the evaluation criteria. Pilot testing indicated that collecting data using these measures was feasible.Discussion:For tele-ED benefits to be widely acknowledged, more research is required to demonstrate that care delivered using tele-ED care is as high quality, if not more so, than in-person care. This requires researchers to consistently use a set of clearly defined measures.Conclusion:The use of clearly defined and standardized measures will aid interpretation and permit replication in multiple studies, furthering acceptance of study findings.