Cancer Patients' Experiences with Telehealth before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in British Columbia.

BACKGROUND: Patients have had their cancer care either postponed or changed to telehealth visits to reduce exposure to COVID-19. However, it is unclear how these changes may have affected their experiences. We aim to identify patient characteristics that affect telehealth experiences and evaluate their preferences for using telehealth in the future. METHODS: Patients who completed the Outpatient Cancer Care (OCC) Patient Experience Survey were invited to participate. They comepleted the modified OCC Survey, which focused on telehealth during the pandemic. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to identify patient characteristics that influenced telehealth experiences and preferences for future telehealth use. RESULTS: Perceived ease of participation in telehealth is a significant predictor of the change in patients' ratings of their telehealth experience. We found that cancer patients had lower preferences for using telehealth in the future if they were older, female, or non-white; resided in an urban area; had no previous telehealth experience; had lower education; and had poorer mental health. CONCLUSIONS: To optimize cancer care and improve equitable access to high-quality telehealth care during the pandemic and beyond, clinicians and policymakers will need to consider patients' self-reported experiences and their personal characteristics.

Virtual Oncology Appointments during the Initial Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Survey of Patient Perspectives.

There has been rapid implementation of virtual oncology appointments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in its first wave. Our objective was to assess patterns and perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments during the pandemic among patients with cancer undergoing active treatment. We conducted an international Internet-based cross-sectional survey. Participants were eligible if they (1) were ≥18 years of age; (2) had been diagnosed with cancer (3) were currently undergoing cancer treatment, and (4) spoke English or French. Between 23 April 2020 and 9 June 2020, 381 individuals accessed the survey, with 212 actively undergoing treatment for cancer, including 27% with colorectal, 21% with breast, 7% with prostate and 7% with lung cancer. A total of 52% of respondents were from Canada and 35% were from the United States. Many participants (129, 62%) indicated having had a virtual oncology appointment during the COVID-19 pandemic and most were satisfied with their experience (83%). We found older participants (≥50 years; adjusted OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.85 compared to <50 years) and those with shortest duration of treatment (≤3 months; adjusted OR 0.06; 95% CI 0 to 0.69 compared to >12 months) were less likely to be satisfied with virtual oncology appointments. Virtual health platforms used differed across countries with higher telephone use in Canada (87%) and other countries (86%) as compared to the United States (54%; p-value < 0.05), where there was higher use of video conferencing. Altogether, our findings demonstrate favorable patient perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments experienced during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.