Highlights
- •Telemedicine was associated with comparable patient reported experience scores.
- •Telemedicine was associated with reduced indirect costs related to travel, housing, and work absence.
- •Perioperative telemedicine has a low rate of redundant care with appropriate care utilization.
Abstract
Background
Though telemedicine has been identified as safe and feasible, data on patient reported
experiences (PREs) are lacking. We sought to compare PREs between in-person and telemedicine-based
perioperative care.
Methods
Patients evaluated from August–November 2021 were prospectively surveyed to assess
experiences and satisfaction with care rendered during in-person and telemedicine-based
encounters. Patient and hernia characteristics, encounter related plans, and PREs
were compared between in-person and telemedicine-based care.
Results
Of 109 respondents (86% response rate), 55% (n = 60) utilized telemedicine-based perioperative
care. Indirect costs were lower for patients using telemedicine-based services, including
work absence (3% vs. 33%, P < 0.001), lost wages (0% vs. 14%, P = 0.003), and requirements for hotel accommodations (0% vs. 12%, P = 0.007). PREs related to telemedicine-based care were non-inferior to in-person
care across all measured domains (P > 0.4).
Conclusions
Telemedicine-based care yields significant cost-savings over in-person care with similar
patient satisfaction. These findings suggest that systems should focus on optimization
of perioperative telemedicine services.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The future of telemedicine: revolutionizing health care or flash in the Pan?.Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2021; 194599820983330
- Telemedicine: patient-provider clinical engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.J Gastrointest Surg. 2020; 24: 1692-1697
- Telehealth utilization in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in orthopaedic surgery.J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2020; 28: e487-e492
- Financial implications of telemedicine visits in an academic endocrine surgery program.Surgery. 2019; 165: 617-621
- The role of telemedicine in postoperative care.mHealth. 2018; 4: 11
- Pilot study to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and financial implications of a postoperative telemedicine program.Ann Surg. 2018; 268: 700-707
- Comparison of telemedicine versus in-person visits on impact of downstream utilization of care.Telemed J e Health. 2021; 27: 1099-1104
Nikolian V.C., Akhter M., Iqbal E.J., et al. A national evaluation of surgeon experiences in telemedicine for the care of hernia and abdominal core health patients. World J Surg. 2021.46(1):76-83.
- Patient experience with electronic health record-integrated postoperative telemedicine visits in an academic endocrine surgery program.Surgery. 2021; 169: 1139-1144
- Telehealth and patient satisfaction: a systematic review and narrative analysis.BMJ Open. 2017; 7e016242
- Outcomes for audio-only and video-based preoperative encounters for abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia consultations.Am J Surg. 2022;
- Telehealth follow-up in lieu of postoperative clinic visit for ambulatory surgery: results of a pilot program.JAMA Surg. 2013; 148: 823-827
- Phone follow-up after inguinal hernia repair.Surg Endosc. 2021; 35: 5159-5166
- The consultation and relational empathy (CARE) measure: development and preliminary validation and reliability of an empathy-based consultation process measure.Fam Pract. 2004; 21: 699-705
- Use of telehealth by surgical specialties during the COVID-19 pandemic.JAMA Surg. 2021; 156: 620-626
- Trends in telemedicine use in a large commercially insured population, 2005-2017.JAMA. 2018; 320: 2147-2149
- Telemedicine for postoperative follow-up, virtual surgical clinics during COVID-19 pandemic.Surg Endosc. 2020;
- Barriers associated with failed completion of an acute care general surgery telehealth clinic visit.Surgery. 2020; 168: 851-858
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 27, 2023
Accepted:
February 26,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 24,
2023
Received:
November 15,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
