Category: Technology
Objective: Addressing the need for a sustainable, patient-centered and effective movement disorder service we set up a virtual clinic (VC) for patients with Parkinson’s disease, combining phone consultations and reports from wearable technology
Background: The Parkinson’s Kinetigraph (PKG) is a wrist worn device providing objective motor assessment, generating a report used by clinicians to optimise medication regimens
Method: Patients were sent letters informing them of their VC appointment. At the appointment time, patients were phoned by a clinician who had accessed the PKG report. After discussing symptoms and the PKG, the clinician could decide on any medication changes or other interventions, and relay this to the patient’s general practioner via a clinic letter. Data was collected on the success of consultations and anonymous feedback questionnaires were sent to patients via post.
Results: Over 12 clinic sessions, 61 patients had VC appointments. In terms of success, in 79% of VC appointments (n=48) a clinical decision could be made in the same way as face-to-face clinic. Reasons appointments were not deemed successful included needing a blood pressure reading for decision making, technical issues with the PKG and complex phase of disease. Of questionnaire respondents, 89% agreed or strongly agreed they we satisfied with VC (n=41) but the free text section suggested a preference for face-to-face clinic. VC was more costly than regular clinic due to the expense of the PKG.
Conclusion: We have demonstrated an efficient VC template. Success could be further improved referral criteria for appropriate patient selection. Patient’s found VC acceptable. As this VC using the PKG was more expensive than our regular clinic and is not superior, it is currently not feasible. However, there may be more competitively priced options in the future which change this
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
L. Evans, B. Mohamed, C. Thomas. Using telemedicine and wearable technology to establish a virtual clinic for people with Parkinson’s [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2020; 35 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/using-telemedicine-and-wearable-technology-to-establish-a-virtual-clinic-for-people-with-parkinsons/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/using-telemedicine-and-wearable-technology-to-establish-a-virtual-clinic-for-people-with-parkinsons/