Does Using a 'Virtual Clinic' in Urogynaecology Improve Patient Experience and Reduce Cost?

NCT02176330 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: STH14733North Sheffield Ethics 07/H130
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 195
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of using a virtual clinic which combines a web-based interactive questionnaire (ePAQ-PF) used in advance of clinic appointments in combination with a telephone consultation has on patient experience and cost compared to standard care.

Conditions

Pelvic Floor Disorders

Keywords

Randomised Controlled Trial; Virtual Clinic; ePAQ-PF; Pelvic Floor Disorders; Economic Analysis

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The Patient Experience Questionnaire

  The primary outcome measure was the Patient Experience Questionnaire (PEQ) \[1\] completed after the patients first clinical consultation. The PEQ was developed and validated specifically to measure patients' experience of interaction, emotion and consultation outcome. It contains 16 items in four dimensions, including 1) communication, 2) emotions, 3) short-term outcome, and 4) barriers. Three of the scales are scored from 1-5, and the emotions scales runs from 1 to 7. A high score represents a good communication experience, positive emotions, positive consultation outcome and a lack of communication barriers.

  This was posted to patients at one time point. This was posted no longer than two weeks after patients had attended for their first clinic consultation (Baseline).

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8.

  This was posted to patients at one time point. This was posted no longer than two weeks after patients had attended for their first clinic consultation (Baseline).

• The Short-Form-12

  A subset of patients were asked to complete the SF-12 at two time points. This was posted after their intervention i.e. first consultation (Baseline) and six months later (Time 2).

• The QQ-10

  This was posted to patients at one time point. This was posted no longer than two weeks after patients had attended for their first clinic consultation (Baseline).

• The Number and Type of Referrals

  Data collected at the six month follow-up (Time 2)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Resource Use Proforma

  Data collected at the six month follow-up (Time 2).

Study Arms (2)

Usual care

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

ePAQ-PF followed by a face to face consultation.

Other: ePAQ-PF followed by a face to face consultation

Virtual Clinic

EXPERIMENTAL

ePAQ-PF followed by a telephone consultation.

Other: ePAQ-PF followed by a telephone consultation.

Interventions

ePAQ-PF followed by a telephone consultation. OTHER

All women randomised to this arm of the study were entered onto the hospital electronic patient record system under the ePAQ clinic. They were were posted an information letter and an epaq-online voucher inviting them to complete the questionnaire on-line. The clinician used these results along with the patient's own casenotes and original referral letter to support the subsequent consultation. The research nurse (HJW) then arranged their telephone consultation. Women in this group who felt unable to complete the questionnaire online would use this telephone call with the research nurse to make arrangements to attend and complete the questionnaire at the hospital.

Virtual Clinic

ePAQ-PF followed by a face to face consultation OTHER

All women randomised to this arm of the study were posted an appointment to attend the urogynaecology clinic. They were were posted an information letter and an epaq-online voucher inviting them to complete the questionnaire on-line. The clinician used these results along with the patient's own casenotes and original referral letter to support the subsequent consultation. Women then attended for their face to face clinic consultation as normal. Women in this group who felt unable to complete the questionnaire online were given the opportunity to complete the questionnaire at the hospital when they attended for their consultation.

Usual care

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• All women referred to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals urogynaecology services, aged \> 18 and able to read and understand English will be eligible to enter the study.

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Sheffield: lead
• Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The Jessop Wing Hospital

Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pelvic Floor Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Pregnancy Complications; Male Urogenital Diseases

Study Officials

• Georgina L Jones, D.Phil

  University of Sheffield

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Reader in Social Science

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 23, 2014
• First Posted: June 27, 2014
• Study Start: June 1, 2008
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2010
• Study Completion: August 1, 2012
• Last Updated: June 27, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-06

Locations

GB (1)