Benefits of multidisciplinary case conferencing using audiovisual compared with telephone communication: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Multidisciplinary case conferencing using a video-link was compared with multidisciplinary case conferencing by telephone. One hundred patients were randomized to either videoconferencing (intervention group, 50 patients) or audioconferencing (control group, 50 patients). The effectiveness of the intervention compared with the control was evaluated in terms of: the number of conferences per patient, average length of conference, length of treatment, number of occasions of service, degree of multidisciplinary team involvement, recorded level of communication, quality of the management plan (in terms of the number of points contained in it) and staff satisfaction. The intervention and control groups showed significant differences on only two of the outcome measures: the mean number of case conferences per patient was less for the intervention group, and the intervention group had a shorter length of treatment (6 days) than the control group (10 days). The study did not demonstrate any significant differences in occasions of service or time commitment, which might have resulted in lower costs. However, the introduction of case conferencing by video-link was accompanied by a high level of satisfaction on the part of the 14 team members who were interviewed.