Cancer care and management during COVID-19: A comparison of in-person, video and telephone consultations

Abstract

In Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the exponential growth in the delivery of telehealth services. Medicare data indicates that the majority of telehealth consultations have used the telephone, despite the known benefits of using video. The aim of this study was to understand the perceived quality and effectiveness of in-person, telephone and videoconsultations for cancer care. Data was collected via online surveys with consumers ( n = 1162) and health professionals ( n = 59), followed by semi-structured interviews with telehealth experienced health professionals ( n = 22) and consumers ( n = 18). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and significance was tested using the chi-square test. A framework analysis and thematic analysis were used for qualitative data. Results indicate telehealth is suitable for use across the cancer care pathway. However, consumers and health professionals perceived videoconsultations facilitated visual communication and improved patients’ quality of care. The telephone was appropriate for short transactional consultations such as repeat prescriptions. Consumers were rarely given the choice of consultation modality. The choice of modality depended on a range of factors such as the type of consultation and stage of cancer care. Hybrid models of care utilising in-person, video and telephone should be developed and requires further guidance to promote the adoption of telehealth in cancer care.

Consumers’ experiences, preferences, and perceptions of effectiveness in using telehealth for cancer care in Australia

“…Despite this, telephone was most frequently used for consultations and nearly a third of consumers were not offered a video consultation. In response to COVID‐19, clinician access to video has increased rapidly 19 . Traditionally, clinicians have identified internet connectivity and poor‐quality audio and video as common barriers for consumers using telehealth 1 .…”

“…Using an online survey and semistructured interviews, telehealth experiences for cancer care were collected from consumers. The methods for this study have been previously published 19 …”

“…The methods for this study have been previously published. 19 Ethical approval for the study was provided by our institution (2021/HE000544). In this study, we report on data from the patient and carers domain of the MAST framework.…”

“…In response to COVID-19, clinician access to video has increased rapidly. 19 Traditionally, clinicians have identified internet connectivity and poor-quality audio and video as common barriers for consumers using telehealth. 1 Although some remote areas in Australia need more reliable connectivity, this may not be a widespread problem as perceived.…”

Telemedicine in geriatric oncology – lessons learned from the COVID-19 experience

“…The study compared in-person, video, and telephone visits and reported that when compared with in-person visits, older adults were more likely to participate in telephone visits than video visits [21]. Communication was improved with video consultations, providing an increased level of quality of care compared with telephone which was found more suitable for shorter visits such as prescription refills [21,25].…”