Video-based Consensus Opinion for Hand and Upper Extremity Problems



Status:Enrolling by invitation
Conditions:Chronic Pain
Therapuetic Areas:Musculoskeletal
Healthy:No
Age Range:18 - Any
Updated:4/21/2016
Start Date:May 2014

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The investigators would like to determine if there is a difference in patient satisfaction
among patients who have puzzling pain conditions and receive one evaluation from their
treating physician, and those that receive an evaluation from their treating physician and
from a group of consulting physicians by video. The investigators expect to enroll 128
patients at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Before visiting a specialist, patients have assumptions regarding diagnosis, etiology,
prognosis, and preferred treatment for their condition. Naturally, some of these assumptions
may be inaccurate or incomplete or there may be room for debate and disagreement even among
specialists. We are looking for ways to make unexpected and indeterminate aspects of an
illness less unsettling for patients. When the hand surgeon's advice doesn't ring true, the
patient may lose confidence in that provider. Sometimes the interaction can feel
disrespectful and even adversarial. We are curious whether patient's satisfaction with
diagnosis, surgeon, and treatment plan would improve if they were able to get an opinion
from many surgeons at once. One feasible way to do that would be to show an edited and
anonymized video to a set of hand surgeons for their opinions on diagnosis and treatment.

Primary study question:

1. Among patients with initially puzzling pains, there is no difference in satisfaction
with diagnosis between patients that receive a video based consensus opinion and those
that receive routine care from a single hand surgeon controlling for psychological
factors, demographics, and initial and final diagnosis.

Secondary study questions:

2. Among patients with initially puzzling pains, there is no difference in pain intensity
and disability one month after the initial visit between patient that receive a
consensus diagnosis and those that receive routine care from a single surgeon.

3. There is no variation in diagnosis between observers (Observers are hand surgeons
viewing the visit video and consulting on the diagnosis).

Inclusion Criteria:

- All patients (>18 years) presenting to Dr. David Ring with painful conditions that
are puzzling (A puzzling pain condition is defined as Dr. Ring being puzzled about
what is causing the pain. Subject eligibility based on this criterion will be
determined by Dr. Ring).

- English fluency and literacy

- Able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

- Pregnant Women
We found this trial at
1
site
185 Cambridge Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
617-724-5200
?
mi
from
Boston, MA
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