Complex Wound Healing Outcomes for Outpatients Receiving Care via Telemedicine, Home Health, or Wound Clinic: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Use of telemedicine has expanded rapidly in recent years, yet there are few comparative studies to determine its effectiveness in wound care. To provide experimental data in the field of telemedicine with regard to wound care, a pilot project named “Domoplaies” was publicly funded in France in 2011. A randomized, controlled trial was performed to measure the outcomes of patients with complex wounds who received home wound care from a local clinician guided by an off-site wound care expert via telemedicine, versus patients who received in-home or wound clinic visits with wound care professionals. The publicly funded network of nurses and physicians highly experienced in wound healing was used to provide wound care recommendations via telemedicine for the study. The healing rate at 6 months was slightly better for patients who received wound care via telemedicine (61/89; 68.5%) versus wound care professional at home (38/59; 64.4%) versus wound care clinic (22/35; 62.9%), but the difference was not significant ( P = .860833). The average time to healing for the 121/183 wounds that healed within 6 months was 66.8 ± 32.8 days for the telemedicine group, 69.3 ± 26.7 for the wound care professional at home group, and 55.8 ± 25.0 days for the wound care clinic group. Transportation costs for the telemedicine and home health care groups were significantly lower than the wound clinic group, and death rate was similar between all the 3 groups ( P < .01). Telemedicine performed by wound healing clinicians working in a network setting offered a safe option to remotely manage comorbid, complex wound care patients with reduced mobility.