Telemedicine and Telementoring in Rhinology, Otology, and Laryngology: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective Telemedicine and telementoring have had a significant boost across all medical and surgical specialties over the last decade and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this scoping review is to synthesize the current use of telemedicine and telementoring in otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery. Data Sources PubMed and Cochrane Library. Review Methods A scoping review search was conducted, which identified 469 articles. Following full-text screening by 2 researchers, 173 articles were eligible for inclusion and further categorized via relevant subdomains. Conclusions Virtual encounters and telementoring are the 2 main applications of telemedicine in otolaryngology. These applications can be classified into 7 subdomains. Different ear, nose, and throat subspecialties utilized certain telemedicine applications more than others; for example, almost all articles on patient engagement tools are rhinology based. Overall, telemedicine is feasible, showing similar concordance when compared with traditional methods; it is also cost-effective, with high patient and provider satisfaction. Implications for Practice Telemedicine in otorhinolaryngology has been widely employed during the COVID-19 pandemic and has a huge potential, especially with regard to its distributing quality care to rural areas. However, it is important to note that with current exponential use, it is equally crucial to ensure security and privacy and integrate HIPAA-compliant systems (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the big data era. It is expected that many more applications developed during the pandemic are here to stay and will be refined in years to come.

A New Community‐to‐Hospital Specialist Otology Pathway Using Telemedicine: A Pilot Study of 50 Patients

“…Including the total number of healthcare visits clearly shows that ENTICES patients were managed in far fewer visits compared with those The overall results showed that 100% would recommend the ENTICES service. Our results are comparable with the literature which all highlight that patient satisfaction for the teleotology experience is high [17].…”

“…Cost-efficiency analyses on existing pathways in the literature have shown that telemedicine is more cost-efficient than face-toface [17]. The financial cost of each pathway to the hospital trust has been calculated per consultation.…”

Embracing digital health: German otolaryngology patients’ usage and prospects of digital information and communication technologies for cross-sectoral care

“…Although numerous recent national and international studies have delved into the utilisation of eHealth for diagnosis and treatment in otolaryngology care, 13 , 21 – 34 the current state and attitudes of otolaryngology patients towards the sustained use of digital ICT, even in the post-CoViD-19 pandemic era, remain insufficiently understood. This knowledge gap raises legitimate concerns that must be further addressed.…”

Mobile Applications in Otology: A Scoping Review

“…This review followed the 2018 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis-Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines [36][37][38][39], as illustrated in Figure 1. The authors employed a comprehensive search strategy using the Google Scholar search engine in January 2023, which yielded approximately 26,200 results.…”