Implementation of Telerehabilitation as an Innovative Modality of Patient Follow-up on the Waiting List of the External Rehabilitation Clinic of the CIUSSS de l'Estrie-CHUS.

Rational : The rehabilitation service offered at the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS de l'Estrie - CHUS) for non-hospitalized patients is performed in outpatient clinics. However, the demand for this service far exceeds the supply, so the take-up time is very long. Recognizing the threatened short-term accessibility, this outpatient clinic has put in place an initial assessment for any service request. The goal is to conduct a preliminary assessment of the condition of the user to teach an exercise and education program. In addition, sporadic monitoring is recommended to promote the effectiveness of the intervention.

To date, the follow-up of this preliminary assessment is done by a phone call from the professional to the patient one month later. However, it is noted that this type of monitoring is not optimal for various reasons, in particular because of the absence of visual contact with the user to allow appropriate feedback from the professional on the exercise execution. In this context, the possibility of having a follow-up by a physiotherapist using telerehabilitation, an application of information technologies allowing a synchronous auditory and visual link, would be an innovative way of increasing the effectiveness of the intervention. This study therefore responds to the need to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of a telerehabilitation home monitoring program for users receiving a preliminary assessment while waiting for physiotherapist at the outpatient physiotherapy clinic. The results of this study will be relevant to clinicians and managers and will undeniably influence the provision of rehabilitation services.

Objectives: The specific objectives are as followed: 1) Evaluate the implementation of telerehabilitation monitoring (TELE-FOLLOW-UP); 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of TELE-FOLLOW-UP compared to the usual phone call; 3) Evaluate user satisfaction for these two modes of service delivery; 4) Identify facilitators and barriers to the implementation of TELE-FOLLOW-UP.

Methodology : In order to meet the objectives of the study, mixed methods will be used. A randomized clinical trial will be used to achieve objectives 1, 2 and 3. The investigators plan to recruit 142 patients. Two groups will be formed: 1) TELE-FOLLOW-UP group: users who will receive follow-up by telerehabilitation; 2) PHONE-FOLLOW-UP group: those who will receive follow-up by a phone call. In order to complete Objective 4, a qualitative exploratory and descriptive study will be conducted using individual interviews (clinicians and health care managers) and focus groups (participants).

The successful implementation of this project will bring a unique experience in Quebec of implementing telerehabilitation in a health care facility. The CIUSSS de l'Estrie-CHUS could become a leader in sharing its experience for large-scale implementation in Quebec. The application in orthopedic outpatient clinics may be generalized to other clientele by increasing accessibility to rehabilitation services for clients where accessibility is an issue