Many different fields of medicine are now utilizing video conferencing as a means to offer consultations to individuals in rural communities. However, there is a lack of published literature regarding the use of telehealth in clinical genetics and, specifically, in genetic counseling. Those experiences that have been reported mostly centered on cancer genetic counseling, sickle cell anemia consultation and care, or pediatric/adult genetic assessment. In these studies, the patients reported an overall satisfaction with telehealth, signifying that this type of communication may play an important role in the future of medicine. This pilot study compared patient satisfaction with prenatal genetic counseling performed via video conferencing versus that performed on-site. The results show that there was a high level of patient satisfaction when video conferencing was used to conduct prenatal genetic counseling consultations, suggesting that telehealth can be utilized as a means to offer this service to underserved populations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Aarnio, P., Rudenberg, H., Ellonen, M., & Jaatinen, P. (2000). User satisfaction with teleconsultations for surgery. J Telemed Telecare, 6(4), 237–241.
Field, M. J. (ed.) (1996). Telemedicine: A guide to assessing telecommunications in health care. National Academy Press, Institute of Medicine.
Gattas, M. R., MacMillan, J. C., Meinecke, I., Loane, M., & Wootton, R. (2001). Telemedicine and clinical genetics: Establishing a successful service. J Telemed Telecare, 7(Suppl 2), 68–70.
Gray, J., Brain, K., Iredale, R., Alderman, J., France, E., & Hughes, H. (2000). A pilot study of telegenetics. J Telemed Telecare, 6(4), 245–247.
Gustke, S. S., Balch, D. C., West, V. L., & Rogers, L. O. (2000). Patient satisfaction with telemedicine. Telemed J, (1), 5–13.
Hersh, W., Helfand, M., Wallace, J., Kraemer, D., Patterson, P., Shapiro, S., et al. (2002). A systemic review of the efficacy of telemedicine for making diagnostic and management decisions. J Telemed Telecare, 8(4), 197–209.
Hunter, A. G., Cappelli, M., Humphreys, L., Allanson, J. E., Chiu, T. T., Peeters, C., Moher, D., & Zimak, A. (2005). A randomized trial comparing alternative approaches to prenatal diagnosis counseling in advanced maternal age patients. Clin Genet, 67(4), 303–313.
Karp, W. B., Grigsby, K., McSwiggan-Hardin, M., Pursley-Crotteau, S., Adams, L. N., Bell, W., et al. (2000). Use of telemedicine for children with special health care needs. Pediatrics, 105, 843–847.
Lea, D. H., Johnson, J. L., Ellingwood, S., Allan, W., Patel, A., & Smith, R. (2005). Telegenetics in Maine: Successful clinical and educational service delivery model developed from a 3-year pilot project. Genet Med, 7(1), 21–27.
Loane, M. A., Bloomer, S. E., Corbett, R., Eedy, D. J., Gore, H. E., Mathews, C., et al. (1998). Patient satisfaction with realtime teledermatology in Northern Ireland. J Telemed Telecare, 4(1), 36–40.
Roine, R., Ohinmaa, A., & Hailey, D. (2001). Assessing telemedicine: A systematic review of the literature. CMAJ, 165(6), 765–771.
Sangha, K. K., Dircks, A., & Langlois, S. (2003) Assessment of the effectiveness of genetic counseling by telephone compared to a clinic visit. J Genet Couns, 12(2), 171–184.
Tachakra, S., & Rajani, R. (2002). Social presence in telemedicine. J Telemed Telecare, 8(4), 226–230.
Woods, K. F., Johnson, J. A., Kutlar, A., Daitch, L., & Stachura, M. E. (2000). Sickle cell disease telemedicine network for rural outreach. J Telemed Telecare, 6(5), 285–290.
Woods, K. F., Kutlar, A., Johnson, J. A., Waller, J. L., Grigsby, R. K., Stachura, M. E., et al. (1999). Sickle cell telemedicine and standard clinical encounters: A comparison of patient satisfaction. Telemed J, Winter 5(4), 349– 356.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank E. Abrams, Y. Matthews, J. Waurin, A. Wray, A. McConkie-Rosell, and the two anonymous reviewers for their critical review of this manuscript. We would also like to thank all the patients who participated in this survey for their time and effort.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Telehealth refers to any type of communication technology in health care, distance education, transmission of radiological images, etc. The actual screening, diagnosis, treatment, management, etc., using distance technology is referred to as telemedicine.
The term on-site indicates that genetic counseling was performed in person, rather than using telehealth.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abrams, D.J., Geier, M.R. A Comparison of Patient Satisfaction with Telehealth and On-Site Consultations: A Pilot Study for Prenatal Genetic Counseling. J Genet Counsel 15, 199–205 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9020-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9020-0