Self-reported "communication technology" usage in patients attending a cardiology outpatient clinic in a remote regional hospital.

Purpose: This study assessed the perceived usage of, and attitudes toward, communication technologies (mobile phone and texting, e-mail, and the World Wide Web) in patients attending a cardiology clinic with a view to guiding future health service redesign.

Methods: This was performed in a remote regional hospital serving both urban and rural populations. A self-completion questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of 221 patients attending a general cardiology clinic. The questions asked about patients' access to and use of technology at home. Data collected also included age, gender, travel time to the clinic, mode of travel, and whether the respondent was accompanied to the clinic. Appropriate statistical tests were used with significance taken at the 0.05 level.

Findings: Age was the strongest predictor of use of communication technologies, with younger patients more likely to use e-mail, Web, mobile phone, and texting. However, frequency of use of e-mail was not related to age. It is encouraging that over 99% of patients used at least one communication technology.

Conclusions: This study has highlighted that there may be several potential barriers to the widespread implementation of communication technologies in general cardiology patients. Cognizance should be taken of these findings when attempting service redesign.