Telemedicine for management of patients with lung cancer during COVID-19 in an Italian cancer institute: SmartDoc Project.
Tumori
; 108(4): 357-363, 2022 Aug.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1223710
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Telemedicine, and particularly video-consulting, has rapidly accelerated since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak. The role of e-healthcare for the management of patients with lung diseases is evolving. We report the results of the initial experience of the SmartDoc Project, a telemedicine program activated in a cancer center (Istituto Nazionale Tumori) at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic onset in Italy.METHOD:
The SmartDoc project was established to guarantee continuity of healthcare services for patients with lung cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The project was promoted within the National Health System to create a regulatory framework to authorize and reimburse telemedicine in its care delivery for all patients. At the end of the virtual meeting, patients were asked to answer an online survey.RESULTS:
From June 19 to December 1, 2020, 83 patients participated in the SmartDoc project and received a teleconsultation. The majority of patients were older than 65 years. Among the 83 televisits, 14 (16.9%) were new visits, 2 (2.4%) second opinions, 4 (4.8%) 30-day postsurgery controls, and 63 (75.9%) long-term follow-up visits. A "complete satisfaction" score (5 out of 5 points) was reported in 70.59% of all the respondents; most patients (76.5%) preferred video-consulting and defined it as better than or comparable to an in-person visit.CONCLUSION:
The favorable initial results of this study suggest that telemedicine should continue beyond the pandemic crisis and should be embedded in a more efficient and accessible healthcare system.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Telemedicine
/
COVID-19
/
Lung Neoplasms
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Tumori
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
03008916211012760
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