NCT02877810

Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Grant Program

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 696 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of California, Davis · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of an existing tele-emergency care network on quality of care, appropriateness of care utilization, patient safety (medication errors), and cost effectiveness compared to telephone consultations from a healthcare system prospective.

Detailed description

The investigators will use a novel cluster randomized unbalanced crossover trial design. When a new site is enrolled, the first approximately 6 months of the project will be a "ramp-up" period during which the protocol will be re-reviewed during a site visit to the participating EDs and random block assignments will be generated and delivered. The last 6 months will be reserved for data analysis, study closeout, and manuscript preparation. An intervening 2-year period will be divided into 4 six-month calendar time periods for carrying out the protocol and data collection. For each 6-month period, each ED will have a randomized treatment assignment for pediatric emergency and critical care consultations ("M" for telemedicine and "P" for telephone.) Participating EDs (the unit of randomization) will be stratified into two strata by size of ED and geographical location. EDs will then be randomized within-strata to one of the four unbalanced (3:1) crossover treatment assignment sequences, each consisting of a 6-month period: PMMM, MPMM, MMPM, or MMMP. During these assigned periods, the type of consultation being assigned will be strongly encouraged, but deviating from protocol (i.e., using telephone consultation when randomized to telemedicine, or the vice-versa) will be allowed as needed by the physicians. Data will be collected and abstracted through retrospective chart review.

Conditions

• Critical Illness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Telemedicine	Telemedicine is a live, interactive, audiovisual teleconferencing system.
OTHER	Telephone	Consultations will be given over telephone.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-11-01
• Primary completion: 2018-08-01
• Completion: 2019-08-01
• First posted: 2016-08-24
• Last updated: 2019-10-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States