Use of Telehealth Expedites Evaluation and Listing of Patients Referred for Liver Transplantation

John, Binu; Love, Eleanor; Dahman, Bassam; Kurbanova, Nargiza; Konjeti, Venkata Rajesh; Sundaram, Latha Thankam; Deng, Yangyang; Aubuchon, Sean; Heuman, Douglas M.; Bajaj, Jasmohan S.; Gilles, HoChong; Chang, Michael; Qayyum, Rehan; Siddiqui, Mohammad Shadab

doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2019.12.021

Cited by 63 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent VA data from Su et al support that the SCAN-ECHO program improves survival in liver disease. (15) Several recent VA studies by Konjeti et al (16) and John et al (17) showed that telemedicine enhanced the efficiency of liver transplant evaluations. Unfortunately, currently such programs cannot readily be implemented outside of integrated systems of care or accountable care organizations, given the regulatory and financial barriers described previously.…”

Section: Key Takeaways From the Local Pilotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine in Liver Disease and Beyond: Can the COVID‐19 Crisis Lead to Action?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence strongly supports that access to specialty gastroenterology or hepatology care in cirrhosis is associated with higher adherence to guideline-recommended care and improves clinical outcomes.Presently, only about one half of acute care hospitalizations for cirrhosis-related complications result in inpatient specialty care and the current hepatology workforce cannot meet the demand of patients with liver disease nationwide, particularly in less densely populated areas and in community-based practices not affiliated with academic centers. Telemedicine, defined as the delivery of health care services at a distance using electronic means for diagnosis and treatment, holds tremendous promise to increase access to broadly specialty care. The technology is cheap and easy to use, however, is presently limited in scale by interstate licensing restrictions and reimbursement barriers.The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has, in the short-term, accelerated the growth of telemedicine delivery as a public health and social distancing measure. Herein, we examine whether this public health crisis can accelerate the national conversation about broader adoption of telemedicine for routine medical care in non-crisis situations using a case series from our telehepatology program as a pragmatic example. Services.(1) Widespread transmission of the virus has reached pandemic proportions and is nowbeginning to cause disruptions in daily life in the United States. As part of the public health response, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and private payers are lifting restrictions on telemedicine reimbursement to facilitate healthcare access while minimizing the spread of infection.

show abstract

Section: Key Takeaways From the Local Pilotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine in Liver Disease and Beyond: Can the COVID‐19 Crisis Lead to Action?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Telemedicine has been used in HCV treatment and in the evaluation of patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [11][12][13][14]. Two recent studies showed that telehealth was highly effective in the management of post-transplant patients and in identifying candidates for liver transplantation [15,16]. We believe that the management of AIH is generally easier than the above-mentioned situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Feasibility of telehealth in the management of autoimmune hepatitis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Efe

Cem

Batıbay

et al. 2020

Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of telehealth in the management of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The COVID-19 outbreak during the study period provided an opportunity to evaluate any pandemic influence on how telehealth was perceived by patients and physicians. Methods: We included patients with AIH who were followed in the Harran University hospital, Turkey. Patients were managed by either remote telehealth or standard care. Results: A total of 46 (telehealth, n=19 and standard care, n= 27) patients (40 female) with a median age of 32 (range 17-74) years at diagnosis were included in the study. Until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rates of biochemical remission and relapse after remission were similar in the telehealth and standard care groups (89.5% vs. 89.1% and 15.8% vs. 25.9%, p=ns, for both). The telehealth group maintained remission significantly better than the standard care group (100% vs. 77.3%, p=0.035) during the COVID-19 period. All relapses were due to non-adherence to therapy. Psychiatric problems, pregnancy-related issues and drug side-effects could all be managed remotely by telehealth. Conclusions: In this study, we show for the first time that telehealth is a feasible alternative for managing AIH, both under normal circumstances and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Expert opinion: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) requires long-life lifelong immunosuppression and followup for most patients. The use of telehealth may be an alternative way to evaluate these patients remotely. We show for the first time that telehealth is effective and useful in the management of AIH in regular time as well during COVID-19. We hope that our study can extend use of telehealth in the evaluation of patients with other causes of chronic liver disease.

show abstract

“…In contrast, telehepatology for liver transplant evaluations may present an opportunity to more efficiently triage patients and expedite the time from referral to evaluation and listing 11 . It can more readily identify patients with psychosocial or other barriers to transplantation and prevent futile evaluations 12 (Table 1).…”

Section: Pros Consmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine and Telehepatology During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Fix

Serper

2020

Clinical Liver Disease

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Use of Telehealth Expedites Evaluation and Listing of Patients Referred for Liver Transplantation

Cited by 63 publications

References 24 publications

Telemedicine in Liver Disease and Beyond: Can the COVID‐19 Crisis Lead to Action?

Telemedicine in Liver Disease and Beyond: Can the COVID‐19 Crisis Lead to Action?

Feasibility of telehealth in the management of autoimmune hepatitis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Telemedicine and Telehepatology During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About