ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to widespread implementation of telemedicine services across all medical and surgical specialties, including neurological spine surgery. The pandemic provides a unique opportunity to investigate the utility of telemedicine in the evaluation and management of spinal pathology. METHODS An 11-part telemedicine questionnaire was developed to assess the above parameters for all patients seen via telemedicine by three neurosurgeons within a 3-week period. Patients were called by phone to participate in the survey. Chi square and ANOVA were performed to determine significance. RESULTS 200 patients were called for the survey. 153 patients responded. 95% of patients were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their telemedicine visit, with 58% of patients stating their visit was “the same” or “better” than previous in-person appointments. On average, patients saved 154 minutes by using telemedicine compared to patient reported in-person visit times. 71% of employed patients have to take off work for in-person visits, compared to just 3% of employed patients who take off work for telemedicine. 42% of patients would feel comfortable proceeding with surgery and 81% of patients would feel comfortable proceeding with a minor procedure (i.e. injection) based off of a telemedicine visit alone. 39% of patients preferred telemedicine to an in-person visit. Patients were separated into three cohorts: those who preferred telemedicine, those who would have preferred an in-clinic visit, and those with no preference. There were no statistically significant differences between these groups in sex, age, or new vs. established patients. After excluding one outlier, patients who preferred telemedicine had significantly longer patient reported in-person visit times (212min) compared to patients who preferred in-person visits (169min) and those who had no preference (119min), P = .008. CONCLUSION Our results show that patients are not only satisfied with telemedicine visits, but some patients may prefer them to traditional in-person visits. Further studies are indicated to determine which patients may be appropriate candidates for telemedicine evaluation and management.