A comprehensive model for evaluating telemedicine.

Increasingly, telecommunications and advanced information technologies are being used for a variety of activities: clinical, administrative, and education/research. These activities are undertaken with the expectation that health care delivery will be improved. To validate this expectation, a number of investigations have been undertaken to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities.

Does hospitalization impact survival after lower respiratory infection in nursing home residents?

Background: Lower respiratory infection (LRI) is the leading cause of hospitalization for nursing home residents, but hospitalization is costly and may cause complications.

Objective: We sought to compare mortality and cost between episodes of LRI initially treated in the hospital versus the nursing home after controlling for illness severity and the probability of hospitalization.

Design: This was a prospective cohort study of nursing home residents with LRIs.

The cost of treating pneumonia in the nursing home setting.

Objective: To determine the costs of treating pneumonia in the nursing home setting and explore what factors are most responsible for that cost with a view to reducing cost.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Thirty-six Missouri nursing homes participating in the study from April 1997 through September 1998.

Patient satisfaction with teledermatology services.

We collected data on patient satisfaction with the use of teledermatology services. During a 27-month study, a single dermatologist saw a total of 321 patients via telemedicine. The patients completed 483 surveys, although not all questions were answered on all surveys.