Care at Home: Using Telemedicine to Provide Specialty Care to Patients with Parkinson Disease

Google Tech Talk April 30, 2012 Presented by Ray Dorsey & Kevin Biglan ABSTRACT The potential for technology to transform health care is immense, and we are just scratching the surface of what is possible with Google's products and services for Parkinson disease and beyond. We look forward to sharing these ideas with you. Here is additional information on our findings. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and economic benefits of using web-based videoconferencing to provide specialty care to patients with Parkinson disease in their homes. Background: Access to specialty care for individuals with PD is frequently limited due to geography. Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using telemedicine to provide care in controlled environments, such as nursing homes, but have not systematically assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of providing care directly in people's homes. Methods: We are conducting a seven-month randomized comparative effectiveness study across two academic sites. Patients with PD were randomized to either continue their usual in-person care with a specialist or to receive care with their specialist via telemedicine in their homes. Patients had existing computer, high-speed internet, and web-camera capabilities and were provided links to download HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing software from Vidyo. After a baseline visit, patients completed three subsequent visits where they completed quality-of-life, as measured by the Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), and economic surveys. Their specialist conducted the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). SPEAKER INFO Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins where he directs the movement disorders (Parkinson disease) division and neurology telemedicine. For the past five years, he has been using web-based video conferencing akin to Skype to care for people around the world and has reached patients in three states and nine countries on three continents. With support from Google, Dr. Kevin Biglan and he are conducting one of the first randomized controlled studies using telemedicine to deliver medical care to directly into the homes of people with Parkinson disease. They look forward to sharing interim results of the study with us. Ray was previously a consultant for McKinsey & Company and received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania, MBA from the Wharton School, and BS from Stanford University. Kevin Biglan, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester where he had served as the Associate Director and Medical Director of the Movement and Inherited Neurological Disorders Unit in the Department of Neurology. He has recently accepted a position as the Associate Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Neurology and serves as the Director of the National Parkinson Foundation and Huntington Disease Society of America Centers of Excellence at the University of Rochester. Kevin received his MD from Jefferson Medical College and his MPH from the University of Rochester and was previously on faculty at Johns Hopkins University where he served as the director of the National Parkinson Foundation Comprehensive Care Center. In collaboration with Dr. Ray Dorsey from Johns Hopkins University they have been employing telemedicine to increase access to care for individuals with chronic neurological disorders regardless of where they live.