Remote Orthopedic Outpatient Consultation by Help of Telemedicine

Patients from 4 local communities in northern Norway referred (either new or follow up) to orthopaedic department, University hospital of Northern Norway for outpatient consultation, are randomly assigned to either remote consultation by use of telemedicine (camera and screen), or standard consultation at the hospital. There are x-ray facilities also at the remote site. The patients randomized to telemedicine consultation meet special trained nurses at the remote site, but doctor only by video conference. The patients will be followed for up to one year. The primary endpoint is quality of care achieved with the telemedicine consultation as compared to standard outpatient consultation (assessed by questionnaires filled out by the doctor involved). Secondary end points are patient satisfaction assessed by questionnaires and economic analyses. The study hypothesis is non-inferiority of telemedicine consultation vs. conventional, outpatient consultation.