Authors (including presenting author) :
Chow TL(1), Leung SY(1), Leung KW Maria(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Family Medicine, NTEC
Introduction :
Family Medicine (FM) - Orthopaedic (ORT) collaboration clinic is established in Fanling Family Medicine Centre (FL FMC) since Aug 2019 with an aim to shorten the waiting time of Orthopaedic Specialist Outpatient Clinic of North District Hospital. One important element in this collaboration is the case discussion between Orthopaedic and Family Medicine specialists. Regular case discussion with Orthopaedic specialists can 1) facilitate communication among care providers, 2) enhance knowledge and skills, and 3) provide coordinated care for patients. While face-to-face meeting has been interrupted during COVID pandemic, we have adopted telemedicine in our case discussion in order to continue the care coordination for patients.
Objectives :
1. To build up a simple and sustainable model with regular teleconference to enhance collaboration between FM and Orthopaedic departments in managing complicated orthopaedic cases.
2. To assess the effectiveness of telemedicine conference by analysing the refer-back rates and discharge rates pre and post adoption of meeting.
Methodology :
One case sharing meeting with Orthopaedic specialists was held in October 2020, patients of FM Ortho collaboration clinic being seen 6 weeks before the meeting and 6 weeks after the meeting were reviewed. Patients who were referred back to Orthopaedic SOPC and discharged from the program without follow-up (FU) were included for the review.
Result & Outcome :
417 patients were seen in the pre-meeting period, 17 cases(4.1%) were referred back to Orthopaedic SOPC, 83 cases (19.9%) were discharged without FU.
While 287 patients were seen in the post-meeting period, 13 cases(4.6%) were referred back to Orthopaedic SOPC, 87 cases (30.6%) were discharged without FU.
The case sharing programme among FM doctors and Orthopaedic specialists increases discharge rate, and further data is needed to look for any reduction in Orthopaedic referred back rate. It also supports FM doctors in managing complicated Orthopaedic cases, as well as enhancing patient safety.
