Implications for the use of telehealth in surgical patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hakim, Abraham; Kellish, Alec S; Atabek, Umur; Spitz, Francis R.; Hong, Young Ki

doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.04.026

Cited by 100 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Telecommunications infrastructure can play an important role in maintenance of surgical services during a pandemic. Telehealth has been called ''a medical necessity'' during outbreaks [32], and its integration into surgical practice is being accelerated by the current pandemic [32]. Telehealth allows care to continue while allowing compliance with social distancing and lockdown rules.…”

Section: Information Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Impact of COVID‐19 on Progress Towards Achieving Global Surgery Goals

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction In the 5 months since it began, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on health systems around the world including surgery. Competing health objectives and resource redeployment threaten to retard the scale-up of surgical services in low-and middle-income countries where access to safe, affordable and timely care is low. The key aspiration of the Lancet Commission on global surgery was promotion of resilience in surgical systems. The current pandemic provides an opportunity to stress-test those systems and identify fault-lines that may not be easily apparent outside of times of crisis. Methods We endeavoured to explore vulnerable points in surgical systems learning from the experience of past outbreaks, using examples from the current pandemic, and make recommendations for future health emergencies. The 6-component framework for surgical systems planning was used to categorise the effects of COVID-19 on surgical systems, with a particular focus on low-and middle-income countries. Key vulnerabilities were identified and recommendations were made for the current pandemic and for the future. Results Multiple stress points were identified throughout all of the 6 components of surgical systems. The impact is expected to be highest in the workforce, service delivery and infrastructure domains. Innovative new technologies should be employed to allow consistent, high-quality surgical care to continue even in times of crisis. Conclusions If robust progress towards global surgery goals for 2030 is to continue, the stress points identified should be reinforced. An ongoing process of reappraisal and fortification will keep surgical systems in low-and middle-income countries responsive to ''old threats and new challenges''. Multiple opportunities exist to help realise the dream of surgical systems resilient to external shocks.

show abstract

Section: Information Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Impact of COVID‐19 on Progress Towards Achieving Global Surgery Goals

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this context, telemedicine and virtual software platforms offer affordable, effective, and attractive option. Thus, they can be utilized to manage the pandemic [7]. While this crisis has presented the medical care delivery system with unparalleled challenges [8], COVID-19 has catalyzed rapid use of ICT such as telemedicine and virtual software platforms to deliver healthcare at a distance [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the adoption of telemedicine and virtual software for care of outpatients during and after COVID-19 pandemic

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread across countries, the need for innovative measures to provide high-quality patient care and manage its spread has become more imperative. Software-based systems such as medical software applications could provide valuable suggestion on health-related information to physicians towards improving quality of life, especially for outpatients (e.g., elderly, immunosuppressed, pregnant women). The use of telemedicine and virtual software offers promising potential in the fight against COVID-19. Accordingly, by means of expedited literature and document review, this paper provides implication on the opportunities, application, and challenges of telemedicine and existing virtual software currently adopted as suitable initiatives for reducing the spread of COVID-19. More importantly, findings present factors that impact adoption of telemedicine. The findings suggest that telemedicine and virtual software are capable of decreasing emergency room visits, safeguarding healthcare resources, and lessening the spread of COVID-19 by remotely treating patients during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

show abstract

“…Indeed, the development and expansion of platforms for the delivery of virtual services and the resultant increase in capacity and/or readiness to sustain telemedicine may be a positive unintended consequence of population-wide social distancing. 3 However, as payers and policymakers make decisions about the future of waivers and temporary/emergent policies around the delivery of telemedicine visits, public perception of and patient satisfaction with virtual visits will be needed to inform decision making. Based on analyses of internet search volumes, it seems that broad interest in telemedicine is increasing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine for Surgical Consultations – Pandemic Response or Here to Stay?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to determine the public's perception of telemedicine surgical consultations, during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Summary Background Data: With rapid expansion and uptake of telemedicine during the pandemic, many have posited that virtual visits will endure even as in-person visits are reinstated. The public's perception of telemedicine for an initial surgical consultation has not been previously studied. Methods: A 43-question survey assessed respondents' attitudes toward telemedicine for initial consultations with surgeons, both in the context of COVID-19 and during ''normal circumstances.'' Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online crowd-sourcing marketplace. Results: Based on 1827 analyzable responses, we found that a majority (86%) of respondents reported being satisfied (either extremely or somewhat) with telemedicine encounters. Interestingly, preference for in-person versus virtual surgical consultation reflected access to care, with preference for telemedicine decreasing from 72% to 33% when COVID-related social distancing ends. Preferences for virtual visits decreased with increasing complexity of the surgical intervention, even during the pandemic. A majority felt that ''establishing trust and comfort'' was best accomplished in person, and the vast majority felt it was important to meet their surgeons before the day of surgery. Conclusions: The public views telemedicine as an acceptable substitute for in-person visits, especially during the pandemic. However, it seems that an inperson interaction is still preferred when possible for surgical consultations. If telemedicine services are to persist beyond social distancing, further exploration of its impact on the patient-surgeon relationship will be needed.

show abstract

Implications for the use of telehealth in surgical patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 100 publications

References 5 publications

Exploring the Impact of COVID‐19 on Progress Towards Achieving Global Surgery Goals

Exploring the Impact of COVID‐19 on Progress Towards Achieving Global Surgery Goals

Exploring the adoption of telemedicine and virtual software for care of outpatients during and after COVID-19 pandemic

Telemedicine for Surgical Consultations – Pandemic Response or Here to Stay?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About