ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen major shifts in the delivery of health care across the world, including the rapid adaptation of telemedicine. Here we present a survey of patients' experience with telemedicine in the treatment of breast cancer. Methods: A questionnaire aimed at assessing patient satisfaction with telemedicine was distributed to all patients who underwent surgery at our centre for breast cancer or benign or high-risk lesions with surgery follow-up dates between Oct. 13 and Dec. 31, 2020. Surveys were conducted via phone or at in-person follow-up appointments. Results: A total of 123 of 172 (72%) eligible patients completed the survey;85% of these patients enjoyed their telemedicine consultation, 93% found that there was enough time for dialogue and to ask questions, 66% would choose to have a telemedicine consultation again, 79% would recommend telemedicine at our centre to a friend or family member and 92% found Zoom easy to use. When asked if they preferred a telemedicine initial consultation over an in-person one, 28% of patients agreed. When patients were analyzed according to their home address, those more than 10 km away from our centre preferred telemedicine over in-person appointments (37%) more often than those who lived less than 10 km away (23%). Conclusion: Patients report a high level of satisfaction with telemedicine. It may be worthwhile to continue telemedicine beyond the pandemic era, owing to its convenience, efficiency and low cost while keeping patients, physicians and office staff safe. It also may be more useful in large geographic areas such as our province to increase access to care.