Speech, language and hearing sciences teleconsultations in a large public telehealth service

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

to analyze the profile of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences teleconsultations of a large scale public telehealth service in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods:

all Speech-Language Pathology teleconsultations performed from February 2011 to May 2014 were assessed and classified according to the type of questions, professional who sent the solicitation and the speech-language pathologist area of expertise.

Results:

the 259 teleconsultations performed during the study period were originated from 81 cities. The majority of the solicitations were originated from speech-language pathologists (64.5%), followed by nurses (27.0%) and physicians (5.0%), and were related to patients' assistance (81%). Among these, 35% were about diagnosis and 65% about discussion of procedures and therapeutic approaches. There was no difference with regards to the type of solicitation and healthcare practitioner, whether speech-language pathologist or not (65.7% vs. 64.9%, p=1.00). The majority of the questions were about language (47%), followed by oral motor functions (29%), voice (20%), audiology (18%), dysphagia (10%) and public health (3%).

Conclusion:

in this study, the majority of the solicitations to a Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences teleconsultation service were about language, although there was demand for all fields. Although the use of teleconsultations in Speech-Language Pathology, is still in its early stages there is great potential for using this tool in clinical practice.

Keywords:
Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Telemedicine; Health Informatics; Public Health; Primary Health Care