Are Surgical Patients Satisfied With Remote Consultations? A Comparison of Remote Versus Conventional Outpatient Clinic Follow-Up for Surgical Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Oates, Emily; Lim, Grace; Nevins, Edward J; Kanakala, Venkatesh

doi:10.1177/23743735211035916

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…These results have been replicated in international randomized trials in American and Spanish general surgery populations 8,12–14 . Other randomized trials to assess postoperative telemedicine follow‐up in urology, orthopaedics, and plastic surgery also corroborate that telemedicine is safe, associated with high patient satisfaction and significant economic savings for patients 16,17 . 36% of patients who had telemedicine follow‐up preferred a different method of follow‐up, with one patient commenting specifically that they would ultimately still prefer face‐to‐face clinic follow‐up.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Telemedicine versus face‐to‐face follow up in general surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Fink

Chen

Chong

et al. 2022

ANZ Journal of Surgery

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Background: Telemedicine provides healthcare to patients at a distance from their treating clinician. There is a lack of high-quality evidence to support the safety and acceptability of telemedicine for postoperative outpatient follow-up. This randomized controlled trial-conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic-aimed to assess patient satisfaction and safety (as determined by readmission, reoperation and complication rates) by telephone compared to face-to-face follow-up after uncomplicated general surgical procedures. Methods: Patients following laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy and laparoscopic or open umbilical or inguinal hernia repairs were randomized to a telephone or face-to-face outpatient clinic. Patient demographics, perioperative details and postoperative outcomes were compared. Patient satisfaction was assessed via a standardized Likert-style scale.Results: One hundred and twenty-three patients were randomized over 12 months. Mean consultation times were significantly shorter for telemedicine than face-to-face clinics (telemedicine 10.52 AE 7.2 min, face-to-face 15.95 AE 9.96 min, P = 0.0021). There was no difference between groups in the attendance rates, nor the incidence or detection of postoperative complications. Of the 58 patients randomized to the telemedicine arm, 40% reported high, and 60% reported very high satisfaction with the method of clinic follow-up. Conclusion: Telemedicine postoperative follow-up is safe and acceptable to patients and could be considered in patients undergoing uncomplicated benign general surgery. adequate provision of post-operative care (including timely diagnosis and management of postoperative complications). This randomized control non-blinded trial-conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic-aimed to assess patient satisfaction and safety (as determined by rates of readmission, return to theatre, missed diagnosis and complications) by telephone compared to face-to-face clinic follow-up after uncomplicated general surgical procedures. MethodsA single-centre randomized controlled trial was performed at a general surgical unit in a metropolitan tertiary hospital from February 2019 to March 2020. Consecutive patients who underwent elective or emergency laparoscopic appendicectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and laparoscopic or simple open umbilical or inguinal

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Telemedicine versus face‐to‐face follow up in general surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Fink

Chen

Chong

et al. 2022

ANZ Journal of Surgery

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“…In addition to the papers listed under surveys, surveys have been applied in some of the implementation studies or trials as an evaluation method. In addition, three of the articles were based on reviews [26,39,49].…”

Section: Case Studies Qualitative Research Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the reviewed articles, precise definitions or descriptions for the concept of PX are not presented. Instead, PX is often used as a synonym for other related concepts, such as satisfaction [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], patient engagement [29][30][31], and patient perceptions [21,22,32]. Satisfaction studies report the use of patient satisfaction questionnaires resulting in patient satisfaction scores [18,21,22,25] whereas "patient engagement" refers to the amount of engagement with eHealth solutions [30] or online patient engagement practices [31].…”

Section: How Has Px Been Defined?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(incl. qualitative and/or quantitative questions) [19,20,[22][23][24][25]28,29,34,40,43,46,[52][53][54][56][57][58]60] Interview [30,32,35,37,42,45,59] Focus group [36,41] Service analysis [31,51] Design methods [44] Reviews [26,39,49] Implementation study [18,21,50,61] Cross-sectional study [27,33] eHealth pilot or trial [38,43,47,48,55] The most frequently used method (i.e., surveys) was applied in 18 papers (see Figure 2). As patient satisfaction was one of the most mentioned aspects affecting PX, patient satisfaction surveys were the most broadly applied.…”

Section: Case Studies Qualitative Research Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patient Experience from an eHealth Perspective: A Scoping Review of Approaches and Recent Trends

et al. 2022

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Objectives: Patients’ experiences are increasingly gaining interest in multiple research fields. Researchers have applied various approaches to studying patient experience (PX); however, there is no commonly agreed-upon definition of PX. This scoping review focuses on PX from an eHealth perspective. Our aim was to: 1) describe how PX has been defined, 2) investigate which factors influencing PX and components of PX have been identified and researched, 3) explore the methods used in studying PX, and 4) find out the recent trends in PX research from an eHealth perspective. Methods: We selected six major journals covering the fields of health informatics, PX, and nursing informatics. Using the search terms “patient experience” and technology-related terms (e.g., digital, eHealth), we searched for articles published between 2019 and 2021. From 426 articles, 44 were included in the analysis. Results: Multiple concepts and meanings are used to refer to PX. Few articles include vague descriptions of the concept. Numerous eHealth factors are influencing PX, as well as components considering PX. The influencing factors were related to eHealth solutions’ type and quality, and care process, when the components of PX were related to communication, remote interaction, risks and concerns, and patients’ attitudes towards telehealth. Surveys were the main method used to study PX, followed by interviews. Conclusions: PX is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, and it is described as a synonym for patient satisfaction and telehealth experiences. Further multidisciplinary research is needed to understand PX as a phenomenon and to outline a framework for the research.

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“…The number of clinical trials, however, remains limited. In particular, there are only a few health economic analyses of the use of telemedicine in orthopedic and trauma surgery follow-up care [15,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Environmental Impact of Digital Health App Video Consultations in Follow-up Care for Patients in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery in Germany: Randomized Controlled Trial

Muschol¹,

Heinrich²,

Heiss³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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Background Following the Riyadh Declaration, digital health technologies were prioritized in many countries to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital health apps for telemedicine and video consultations help reduce potential disease spread in routine health care, including follow-up care in orthopedic and trauma surgery. In addition to the satisfaction, efficiency, and safety of telemedicine, its economic and environmental effects are highly relevant to decision makers, particularly for the goal of reaching carbon neutrality of health care systems. Objective This study aims to provide the first comprehensive health economic and environmental analysis of video consultations in follow-up care after knee and shoulder interventions in an orthopedic and trauma surgery department of a German university hospital. The analysis is conducted from a societal perspective. We analyze both economic and environmental impacts of video consultations, taking into account the goal of carbon neutrality for the German health care system by 2030. Methods We conducted a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing follow-up care with digital health app video consultations (intervention group) to conventional face-to-face consultations in the clinic (control group). Economic impact included the analysis of travel and time costs and production losses. Examination of the environmental impact comprised the emissions of greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide, volatile hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulates, and the calculation of environmental costs. Sensitivity analysis included calculations with a higher cost per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, which gives equal weight to the welfare of present and future generations. Results Data from 52 patients indicated that, from the patients’ point of view, telemedicine helped reduce travel costs, time costs, and production losses, resulting in mean cost savings of €76.52 per video consultation. In addition, emissions of 11.248 kg of greenhouse gases, 0.070 kg of carbon monoxide, 0.011 kg of volatile hydrocarbons, 0.028 kg of nitrogen oxides, and 0.0004 kg of particulates could be saved per patient through avoided travel. This resulted in savings of environmental costs between €3.73 and €9.53 per patient. Conclusions We presented the first comprehensive analysis of economic and environmental effects of telemedicine in the follow-up care of patients in orthopedic and trauma surgery in Germany. Video consultations were found to reduce the environmental footprint of follow-up care; saved travel costs, travel time, and time costs for patients; and helped to lower production losses. Our findings can support the decision-making on the use of digital health during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, providing decision makers with data for both economic and environmental effects. Thanks to the pragmatic design of our study, our findings can be applied to a wide range of clinical contexts and potential digital health applications that substitute outpatient hospital visits with video consultations. Trial Registration German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00023445; https://tinyurl.com/4pcvhz4n

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Are Surgical Patients Satisfied With Remote Consultations? A Comparison of Remote Versus Conventional Outpatient Clinic Follow-Up for Surgical Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Cited by 11 publications

References 24 publications

Telemedicine versus face‐to‐face follow up in general surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Telemedicine versus face‐to‐face follow up in general surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Patient Experience from an eHealth Perspective: A Scoping Review of Approaches and Recent Trends

Economic and Environmental Impact of Digital Health App Video Consultations in Follow-up Care for Patients in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery in Germany: Randomized Controlled Trial

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