Interventional Study of Videoconferences Between Hospital and Municipality - a Randomized Controlled Trial (Tele-hjem)

Interventional Study of Videoconferences Between Hospital and Municipality After Discharge From Roskilde and Køge Hospitals - a Randomized Controlled Trial

The study aims to assess whether the review of discharge planning followed by a cross-sectoral video conference in connection with discharge of medical and geriatric patients at Roskilde and Køge hospitals as well as patients from the Emergency Department at Køge Hospital reduces the proportion of patients who are readmitted within 180 days.

Project nurses at the two hospitals identifies all patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria (above 55 years of age, discharged to their own home), get informed consent and performs the video conferences. Within a few hours after discharge a video conference is held in the patient´s home including the patient,the municipal nurse and the project nurse at the hospital. During the video conference the discharge is reviewed using a structured assessment.

The survey is conducted as an open, randomized intervention study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Discharge Planning; Readmission, Hospital
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Review of discharges and cross-sectoral video conferencing immediately after discharge

Detailed Description

The study consists of two parts: First, the project nurse reviews the patients discharge together with the nurse from the hospital ward. Next, the patient is discharged from the hospital and meets the nurse from the municipality at home. Together with the patient the nurse form the municipality reviews:

• Documents from the hospital
• Medicine
• Nutrition
• Mobility
• Assessment of the need for health care services from the municipality

All patients in the project - both patients in the intervention group and patients in the control group - will receive treatment and care equivalent to normally applicable quality standards.

In 2011 4387 patients were discharged Monday to Friday from the Medical and Geriatric Departments at Roskilde and Køge Hospital to one of the seven municipalities. Of these, 1204 persons (27%) were readmitted (in any department) within 180 days. It is expected that the study demonstrates a reduction of ≥ 6 percentage points (from 27% to 21%) with a power of 80% and a significance level of 5%. There will be a need for 792 patients in both control and intervention group, ie 1584 in total.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1387
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Denmark
  • Køge, Denmark
    • Region Zealand, Roskilde and Køge Hospitals

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Discharge from the Medical Department and Geriatric Department at Roskilde and Køge hospitals or the Emergency Department at Køge Hospital.

Address in Køge, Greve, Faxe, Solrød, Lejre, Stevns or Roskilde municipalities. Discharges between 8 am and 4 pm Monday-Friday. Acute/subacute admission to the hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who cannot give consent to participation. Discharge to a nursing home or relief care home. Patients with planned readmission. Former participant in the study. Patients who are included in the Sub Acute Project. Patients who needs terminal care

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; Review of discharges and cross-sectoral video conferencing immediately after discharge	Other: Review of discharges and cross-sectoral video conferencing immediately after discharge; The intervention is video conference which is randomized and is an intervention that is assigned by the investigator.
No Intervention: Control; Standard health care services

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The proportion of patients who are readmitted	Acute readmissions to any hospital in Denmark	180 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Use of municipal services (nursing, practical help, personal care)	4 months
Time to readmission	180 days
Total number of readmissions	180 days
Total number of days of readmission	180 days
The number of contacts with general practitioner	180 days
Death	180 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Zealand University Hospital
• Collaborators: Region Zealand; Roskilde Municipality; Køge Municipality; Stevns Municipality; Solrød Municipality; Lejre Municipality; Faxe Municipality; Greve Municipality
• Investigators: Study Director: Solvejg Henneberg Pedersen, dr., Region Zealand; Principal Investigator: Birgitte Dreyer Sørensen, cand. scient. san. publ., Region Zealand

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 7, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 24, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): November 27, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 12, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2015
• Last Verified: January 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: SJ-337