The Breast Cancer Patient Experience of Telemedicine During COVID-19.
Ann Surg Oncol
; 29(4): 2244-2252, 2022 Apr.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1533390
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen major shifts in the delivery of health care across the world, including adoption of telemedicine. We present a survey of patient experience with telemedicine for the treatment of breast cancer.METHODS:
A questionnaire designed to assess patient satisfaction with telemedicine was distributed to all patients who underwent surgery at the Providence Breast Centre (PBC) for breast cancer or benign/high-risk lesions with surgery follow-up dates between October 13 and December 31, 2020. Surveys were conducted via phone or at in-person follow-ups.RESULTS:
A total of 123 of 172 (72%) eligible patients completed the survey; 85% of these patients enjoyed their telemedicine consultation, 93% found there was enough time for dialogue, 66% would choose to have a telemedicine consultation again, 79% would recommend telemedicine at PBC to a friend or family member, and 92% found Zoom© easy to use. When asked whether they prefer a telemedicine initial consultation over an in-person, 28% of patients agreed. When patients are analyzed according to their home address, those more than 10-km away from PBC prefer telemedicine over in-person appointments (37%) more often than those who live less than 10-km away (23%) (p = 0.045).CONCLUSIONS:
Patients report a high level of satisfaction with telemedicine. It may be worthwhile to continue telemedicine beyond the pandemic era, due 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 British Columbia to increase access to care.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Breast Neoplasms
/
Telemedicine
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Surg Oncol
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S10434-021-11103-w
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