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Provider confidence in the telemedicine spine evaluation: results from a global study.
Lovecchio, Francis; Riew, Grant J; Samartzis, Dino; Louie, Philip K; Germscheid, Niccole; An, Howard S; Cheung, Jason Pui Yin; Chutkan, Norman; Mallow, Gary Michael; Neva, Marko H; Phillips, Frank M; Sciubba, Daniel M; El-Sharkawi, Mohammad; Valacco, Marcelo; McCarthy, Michael H; Makhni, Melvin C; Iyer, Sravisht.
  • Lovecchio F; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
  • Riew GJ; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
  • Samartzis D; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Louie PK; The International Spine Research and Innovation Initiative, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Germscheid N; Neuroscience Institute, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
  • An HS; Research Department, AO Spine International, Davos, Switzerland.
  • Cheung JPY; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Chutkan N; The International Spine Research and Innovation Initiative, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Mallow GM; Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  • Neva MH; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
  • Phillips FM; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Sciubba DM; The International Spine Research and Innovation Initiative, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • El-Sharkawi M; Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
  • Valacco M; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • McCarthy MH; The International Spine Research and Innovation Initiative, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • Makhni MC; Department of Neurosurgery, Baltimore, MD, USA, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
  • Iyer S; Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Assiut University Medical School, Assiut, Egypt.
Eur Spine J ; 30(8): 2109-2123, 2021 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1432544
ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:

To utilize data from a global spine surgeon survey to elucidate (1) overall confidence in the telemedicine evaluation and (2) determinants of provider confidence.

METHODS:

Members of AO Spine International were sent a survey encompassing participant's experience with, perception of, and comparison of telemedicine to in-person visits. The survey was designed through a Delphi approach, with four rounds of question review by the multi-disciplinary authors. Data were stratified by provider age, experience, telemedicine platform, trust in telemedicine, and specialty.

RESULTS:

Four hundred and eighty-five surgeons participated in the survey. The global effort included respondents from Africa (19.9%), Asia Pacific (19.7%), Europe (24.3%), North America (9.4%), and South America (26.6%). Providers felt that physical exam-based tasks (e.g., provocative testing, assessing neurologic deficits/myelopathy, etc.) were inferior to in-person exams, while communication-based aspects (e.g., history taking, imaging review, etc.) were equivalent. Participants who performed greater than 50 visits were more likely to believe telemedicine was at least equivalent to in-person visits in the ability to make an accurate diagnosis (OR 2.37, 95% C.I. 1.03-5.43). Compared to in-person encounters, video (versus phone only) visits were associated with increased confidence in the ability of telemedicine to formulate and communicate a treatment plan (OR 3.88, 95% C.I. 1.71-8.84).

CONCLUSION:

Spine surgeons are confident in the ability of telemedicine to communicate with patients, but are concerned about its capacity to accurately make physical exam-based diagnoses. Future research should concentrate on standardizing the remote examination and the development of appropriate use criteria in order to increase provider confidence in telemedicine technology.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Telemedicine / Surgeons / COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Eur Spine J Journal subject: Orthopedics Year: 2021 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S00586-020-06653-8

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Telemedicine / Surgeons / COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Eur Spine J Journal subject: Orthopedics Year: 2021 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S00586-020-06653-8