The clinical effectiveness of telehealth: A systematic review of meta-analyses from 2010 to 2019
- PMID: 34184580
- DOI: 10.1177/1357633X211022907
The clinical effectiveness of telehealth: A systematic review of meta-analyses from 2010 to 2019
Erratum in
-
Corrigendum to ''The clinical effectiveness of telehealth: A systematic review of meta-analyses from 2010 to 2019.''.J Telemed Telecare. 2024 Jun 11:1357633X241262510. doi: 10.1177/1357633X241262510. Online ahead of print. J Telemed Telecare. 2024. PMID: 38860556 No abstract available.
Abstract
Introduction: To promote telehealth implementation and uptake, it is important to assess overall clinical effectiveness to ensure any changes will not adversely affect patient outcomes. The last systematic literature review examining telehealth effectiveness was conducted in 2010. Given the increasing use of telehealth and technological developments in the field, a more contemporary review has been carried out. The aim of this review was to synthesise recent evidence associated with the clinical effectiveness of telehealth services.
Methods: A systematic search of 'Pretty Darn Quick'-Evidence portal was carried out in November 2020 for systematic reviews on telehealth, where the primary outcome measure reported was clinical effectiveness. Due to the volume of telehealth articles, only systematic reviews with meta-analyses published between 2010 and 2019 were included in the analysis.
Results: We found 38 meta-analyses, covering 10 medical disciplines: cardiovascular disease (n = 3), dermatology (n = 1), endocrinology (n = 13), neurology (n = 4), nephrology (n = 2), obstetrics (n = 1), ophthalmology (n = 1), psychiatry and psychology (n = 7), pulmonary (n = 4) and multidisciplinary care (n = 2). The evidence showed that for all disciplines, telehealth across a range of modalities was as effective, if not more, than usual care.
Discussion: This review demonstrates that telehealth can be equivalent or more clinically effective when compared to usual care. However, the available evidence is very discipline specific, which highlights the need for more clinical effectiveness studies involving telehealth across a wider spectrum of clinical health services. The findings from this review support the view that in the right context, telehealth will not compromise the effectiveness of clinical care when compared with conventional forms of health service delivery.
Keywords: Telehealth; digital health; effectiveness; evidence; meta-analysis; policy; systematic review; telemedicine; virtual health.
Similar articles
-
An overview of the effect of telehealth on mortality: A systematic review of meta-analyses.J Telemed Telecare. 2023 Oct;29(9):659-668. doi: 10.1177/1357633X211023700. Epub 2021 Jun 29. J Telemed Telecare. 2023. PMID: 34184578
-
Folic acid supplementation and malaria susceptibility and severity among people taking antifolate antimalarial drugs in endemic areas.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Feb 1;2(2022):CD014217. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD014217. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022. PMID: 36321557 Free PMC article.
-
The future of Cochrane Neonatal.Early Hum Dev. 2020 Nov;150:105191. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2020.105191. Epub 2020 Sep 12. Early Hum Dev. 2020. PMID: 33036834
-
Effectiveness of Telehealth in Rural and Remote Emergency Departments: Systematic Review.J Med Internet Res. 2021 Nov 26;23(11):e30632. doi: 10.2196/30632. J Med Internet Res. 2021. PMID: 34842537 Free PMC article. Review.
-
[Volume and health outcomes: evidence from systematic reviews and from evaluation of Italian hospital data].Epidemiol Prev. 2013 Mar-Jun;37(2-3 Suppl 2):1-100. Epidemiol Prev. 2013. PMID: 23851286 Review. Italian.
Cited by
-
Patient Opinions about Virtual Consultations in Saudi Arabia: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel). 2024 May 13;12(10):1001. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12101001. Healthcare (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38786410 Free PMC article.
-
General practitioner preferences for telehealth consultations in Australia: a pilot survey and discrete choice experiment.Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2024 May 9;25:e28. doi: 10.1017/S1463423624000136. Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2024. PMID: 38721700 Free PMC article.
-
The Use of Telemedicine by US Nephrologists for In-Center Hemodialysis Care During the Pandemic: An Analysis of National Medicare Claims.Kidney Med. 2024 Feb 17;6(4):100798. doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2024.100798. eCollection 2024 Apr. Kidney Med. 2024. PMID: 38645734 Free PMC article.
-
Impact of COVID-19 on Referral Patterns and Service Delivery for an Integrated Behavioral Health Program.Fam Soc. 2023 Jun;104(2):142-153. doi: 10.1177/10443894221133500. Epub 2022 Dec 23. Fam Soc. 2023. PMID: 38587508 Free PMC article.
-
Parenting practices and interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: an exploratory cross-sectional study of caregivers in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States.Psicol Reflex Crit. 2024 Apr 7;37(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s41155-024-00295-1. Psicol Reflex Crit. 2024. PMID: 38583110 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical