Title : An exploration of physiotherapy telephone services and the impact on patient and service outcomes : a narrative review .
Sophie L . Gilhooly
Introduction : Demand for healthcare is continuing to rise with an increasingly complex , ageing population . There are growing demands for services to provide easier and faster information to patients regarding their health and the need for services to adapt to advances in technology has never been more prominent . Telephone services are well placed technical options which may be useful in managing demand and reducing waiting times . Despite existing throughout healthcare , there is a lack of consensus on the impact of telephone services : particularly regarding acceptability , accessibility and satisfaction . The central aim of this narrative review was to explore the evolution of telephone services and the impact of implementation on service and patient outcomes within the physiotherapy profession .
Methods : Electronic databases , MEDLINE , CINAHL and Pubmed were searched using basic and combination key terms without date restriction . Additional hand searches of references lists identified further appropriate articles and ensured saturation of the data .
Results : Physiotherapy is considered by many a hands-on profession and failure to meet this expectation appears to take precedent over quality of care . Staff with prior or greater experience view telephone services better and are more willing to engage . Interestingly no specific training requirements have been set to aid the development of staff in this new role . Telephone services can manage a modest proportion of patients purely via the telephone however care must be taken to avoid increases in consulting time and costs via mechanisms such as repeated consultations . Patient choice , satisfaction and access also impacts on acceptability of these services for patients and staff .
Conclusions : Telephone services are flexible , alternative options for patients and offer variation and skill development for staff . Despite this they appear to be less satisfactory than usual care . Further research into specific areas highlighted amongst this review will enable a better understanding of these mechanisms .
Impact : This review has highlighted multiple elements of telephone services that require intervention to optimise suitability for the physiotherapy profession . This review would be useful in the creation of a service evaluation tool to further investigate aspects of the service considered most influential for patients and staff .