ArticlePloS one2015
Do "Virtual" and "Outpatient" Public Health Tuberculosis Clinics Perform Equally Well? A Program-Wide Evaluation in Alberta, Canada.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- eHealth in TB clinical management.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2022Pooled it
- Evaluating Canada's initiative of enhanced screening for tuberculosis infection in migrants: Implementation lessons from Alberta.Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis program performance in Alberta, Canada: a population-based evaluation.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Exploration of inter-jurisdictional TB programming and mobility in a Canadian First Nation community.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Introduction of short course treatment for latent tuberculosis infection at a primary care facility for refugees in Winnipeg, Canada: A mixed methods evaluation.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- A clinical audit and cost analysis of latent TB management at a tertiary referral centre in Ireland.Irish journal of medical science · 2020Review
- Prompt recognition of infectious pulmonary tuberculosis is critical to achieving elimination goals: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ open respiratory research · 2020Article
- Tuberculosis among northern Manitoba First Nations, 2008-2012: program performance on- and off-reserve.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2019Article
- Would program performance indicators and a nationally coordinated response accelerate the elimination of tuberculosis in Canada?Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2019Article
- Is there a fundamental flaw in Canada's post-arrival immigrant surveillance system for tuberculosis?PloS one · 2019Article
- Performance of centralized versus decentralized tuberculosis treatment services in Southern Brazil, 2006-2015.BMC public health · 2018Article
- Predicting pulmonary tuberculosis in immigrants: a retrospective cohort study.ERJ open research · 2018Article
- Towards the elimination of paediatric tuberculosis in high-income, immigrant-receiving countries: a 25-year conventional and molecular epidemiological case study.ERJ open research · 2018Article
- Molecular Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in British Columbia, Canada: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2018Article
- Respiratory isolation for tuberculosis: the experience of Indigenous peoples on the Canadian prairies.Public health action · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMeeting the challenge of tuberculosis (TB) elimination will require adopting new models of delivering patient-centered care customized to diverse settings and contexts. In areas of low incidence with cases spread out across jurisdictions and large geographic areas, a "virtual" model is attractive. However, whether "virtual" clinics and telemedicine deliver the same outcomes as face-to-face encounters in general and within the sphere of public health in particular, is unknown. This evidence is generated here by analyzing outcomes between the "virtual" and "outpatient" public health TB clinics in Alberta, a province of Western Canada with a large geographic area and relatively small population.
methodsIn response to the challenge of delivering equitable TB services over long distances and to hard to reach communities, Alberta established three public health clinics for the delivery of its program: two outpatient serving major metropolitan areas, and one virtual serving mainly rural areas. The virtual clinic receives paper-based or electronic referrals and generates directives which are acted upon by local providers. Clinics are staffed by dedicated public health nurses and university-based TB physicians. Performance of the two types of clinics is compared between the years 2008 and 2012 using 16 case management and treatment outcome indicators and 12 contact management indicators.
findingsIn the outpatient and virtual clinics, respectively, 691 and 150 cases and their contacts were managed. Individually and together both types of clinics met most performance targets. Compared to outpatient clinics, virtual clinic performance was comparable, superior and inferior in 22, 3, and 3 indicators, respectively.
conclusionsOutpatient and virtual public health TB clinics perform equally well. In low incidence settings a combination of the two clinic types has the potential to address issues around equitable service delivery and declining expertise.
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