Telemedicine and current clinical practice trends in the COVID-19 pandemic

Wahezi, Sayed E.; Kohan, Lynn; Spektor, Boris; Brancolini, Scott; Emerick, Trent; Fronterhouse, Jean M.; Luedi, Markus M.; Colon, Marc A.; Kitei, Paul M.; Anitescu, Magdalena; Goeders, Nicholas E.; Patil, Shilpavedi; Siddaiah, Harish; Cornett, Elyse M.; Urman, Richard D.; Kaye, Alan D.

doi:10.1016/j.bpa.2020.11.005

Cited by 44 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(71 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Throughout the literature, it has been determined that web-based care works well in populations where a significant portion of the visit is spent taking history, with less reliance on a physical exam, which was supported by free text responses from our sample [ 12 ]. The challenges identified in our study, including lack of physical examination and poor patient etiquette, were supported by other studies of web-based care during the pandemic [ 4 , 13 ]. In addition to factors challenging physician adoption of web-based care, certain patient-level factors were identified as prohibitive to widespread use of web-based care.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Experience of Pediatricians and Pediatric Surgeons With Virtual Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Study

McCrady¹,

Strychowsky²,

Woolfson³

2022

JMIR Pediatr Parent

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-clinic visits were the standard of care for pediatric physicians and surgeons at our center. At the pandemic onset, web-based care was adopted at an unprecedented scale and pace. Objective This descriptive study explores the web-based care experience of pediatric physicians and surgeons during the pandemic by determining factors that supported and challenged web-based care adoption. Methods This study took place at the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, a children’s hospital in London, Ontario, Canada, which provides pediatric care for patients from the London metropolitan area and the rest of Southwestern Ontario. The Donabedian model was used to structure a web-based survey evaluating web-based care experience, which was distributed to 121 department-affiliated pediatric physicians (including generalists and subspecialists in surgery and medicine). Recruitment occurred via department listserv email. Qualitative data were collected through discrete and free-text survey responses. Results Survey response rate was 52.1% (63/121). Before the pandemic, few physicians within the Department of Paediatrics used web-based care, and physicians saw <10% of patients digitally. During March-May 2020, the majority transitioned to web-based care, seeing >50% of patients digitally. Web-based care use in our sample fell from June to September 2020, with the majority seeing <50% of patients digitally. Telephone and Ontario Telemedicine Network were the platforms most used from March to September 2020. Web-based care was rated to be convenient for most providers and their patients, despite the presence of technical difficulties. Challenges included lack of physical exam, lower patient volumes, and poor patient digital care etiquette. Regardless of demographics, 96.4% (116/121) would continue web-based care, ideally for patients who live far away and for follow-ups or established diagnoses. Conclusions Transition to web-based care during COVID-19 was associated with challenges but also positive experiences. Willingness among pediatricians and pediatric surgeons to continue web-based care was high. Web-based care experiences at our center could be improved with patient education and targeting select populations. Future research is needed to improve practice efficiency and to inform regulatory guidelines for web-based care.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Experience of Pediatricians and Pediatric Surgeons With Virtual Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Study

McCrady¹,

Strychowsky²,

Woolfson³

2022

JMIR Pediatr Parent

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Note that throughout the pandemic, the use of telemedicine picked up to meet the needs of the healthcare system. This approach extends to CRC screening, where telehealth appointments regarding CRC screening have increased [39,40]. Telehealth visits are still ongoing, even as in-person CRC screenings in hospitals or other medical settings are starting to resume [41][42][43].…”

Section: Resuming Crc Screening During Covid-19 and Beyondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colorectal Cancer Screening: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Possible Consequences

Harber

Zeidan

Aslam

2021

Life

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Colonoscopy procedure has been the key screening method to detect colorectal cancer (CRC). As a fatal disease, CRC needs early detection. The COVID-19 pandemic caused screening tests (colonoscopy) to be halted and delayed. As a result, there could be dire consequences such as later-stage or missed diagnosis or greater mortality. This report will analyze scientific literature pertaining to interrupted CRC screenings due to COVID-19 while drawing historical parallels from the 1918 flu pandemic. We conducted literature searches in the PubMed database as well as in Google Scholar. One of the main lessons learned from the 1918 flu pandemic was to employ social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. So, the global response at the start and peak of the COVID-19 pandemic was decreased hospital visits for any non-emergency cases. That led to a halt and delays in cancer (including CRC) screenings. The Medical community predicted this lag will cause more CRC cases and deaths in the future. However, reorganizing and changing screening method strategies were helpful during the ongoing pandemic. In conclusion, COVID-19 greatly affected CRC screening, including how we view the future of CRC screening. We can learn from this prospect to better prepare for future pandemics or other public health crises.

show abstract

“…Even though telemedicine already provided advantages to health care systems [10], the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for remote consultations. For example, earlier in 2020 the number of consults in the USA via telemedicine was 0.1% of the total number of consultations and by April 2020 this number increased to 69% [11].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

The management of COVID-19 cases through telemedicine in Brazil

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Dec 2020 Brazil became one of the worldwide epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 7.2M reported cases. Brazil has a large territory with unequal distribution of healthcare resources including physicians. Resource limitation has been one of the main factors hampering Brazil’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. Telemedicine has been an effective approach for COVID-19 management as it allows to reduce the risk of cross-contamination and provides support to remote rural locations. Here we present the analyses of teleconsultations from a countrywide telemedicine service (TelessáudeRS-UFRGS, TRS), that provides physician-to-physician remote support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. We performed a descriptive analysis of the teleconsultation incoming calls and a text analysis from the call transcripts. Our findings indicate that TRS teleconsultations in Brazil experienced an exponential increment of 802.% during a period of 6 days, after the first death due to COVID-19 was reported. However, the number of teleconsultations cases decreased over time, despite the number of reported COVID-19 cases continuously increasing. The results also showed that physicians in low-income municipalities, based on GDP per capita, are less likely to consult the telemedicine service despite facing higher rates of COVID-19 cases. The text analysis of call transcripts from medical teleconsultations showed that the main concern of physicians were “asymptomatic” patients. We suggest an immediate reinforcement of telehealth services in the regions of lower income as a strategy to support COVID-19 management.

show abstract

Telemedicine and current clinical practice trends in the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 44 publications

References 45 publications

Experience of Pediatricians and Pediatric Surgeons With Virtual Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Study

Experience of Pediatricians and Pediatric Surgeons With Virtual Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Study

Colorectal Cancer Screening: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Possible Consequences

The management of COVID-19 cases through telemedicine in Brazil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About