Skip to main content

Table 1 Eligibility for the trial

From: Impact of telehealth on general practice contacts: findings from the whole systems demonstrator cluster randomised trial

Practice characteristics

All practices within the geographical areas covered by the sites (Cornwall, Newham and Kent) were eligible and were invited to participate in the trial by letter.

Each practice that accepted the invitation to participate was allocated to an intervention or control group via a centrally-administered minimisation algorithm that aimed to ensure that the groups of practices were similar in terms of practice size, deprivation index, proportion of non-white patients, prevalence of diabetes, COPD and heart failure, and site (Cornwall, Kent and Newham).

Patient characteristics

Within each practice, patients aged 18 or over were deemed eligible on the basis of a diagnosis in primary or secondary care for COPD, heart failure or diabetes.

Eligibility was not conferred on the basis of formal clinical assessment of disease severity. Instead patients were deemed eligible on the basis of either (i) their inclusion on the relevant Quality Outcomes Framework register in primary care, (ii) a confirmed medical diagnosis in primary or secondary care medical records as indicated by general practice Read Codes or ICD-10 codes, or (iii) confirmation of disease status by a local clinician (i.e. general practitioner or community matron) or by their hospital consultant.

Patients were not excluded on the basis of additional physical co-morbidities. However, the patient’s home had to be suitable for the installation of telehealth.