PRE-ENDOSCOPY CONSULTATION AND ADHERENCE TO OUTPATIENT ENDOSCOPY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: IN-PERSON VISIT VERSUS TELEHEALTH

ABSTRACT

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the healthcare delivery systems worldwide. In the United States telemedicine was implemented widely to overcome this challenge The impact of telemedicine on patients' adherence to scheduled outpatient endoscopy as compared to the standard in-person consultation is unknown. Aim: 1/ To evaluate adherence to outpatient scheduled general endoscopic procedure in patients who had pre-procedure in-person consultation visit versus telehealth. 2/ To evaluate adequacy of bowel preparation among patients who had in-person visit versus telehealth among those who completed outpatient colonoscopy.? Method: We performed a chart review of patients on the outpatient endoscopy schedule from June to September 2021 in an inner-city tertiary hospital serving predominantly African American population. All patients had pre-endoscopy consultation done by faculty staff either by in-person or telehealth. A total of 416 patients scheduled for endoscopic procedures were included in this analysis. Of these, 153 patients (36.7%) had tele-health visit and 263 patients (63.2%) had in-person visit. We compared adherence to scheduled procedures and quality of colonoscopy performed as measured by the adequacy of bowel preparation. Results: There were no differences between in-person versus telehealth visits by age (P = 0.3), sex (P = 0.41) or covid 19 vaccination status (P = 0.91). However, blacks are more likely to use telehealth 41.6% versus 20.6% non-blacks (P < 0.001). There was no difference between pre-endoscopy telehealth vs in-person consultation in adherence to scheduled procedure and there was no difference in the adequacy of bowel preparation (Table 1). Furthermore, there was no difference among those who were vaccinated against COVID-19 vs non-vaccinated in attendance to scheduled procedures (Odds Ratio 1.29;95%CI 0.56 – 2.98) and in adequacy of bowel preparation (Odds Ratio 1.63;95% CI 0.48 - 5.57) Conclusion: There were no differences in the outcome among those with preendoscopy telehealth visit versus in-person visit. In a low socioeconomic community and minority population, utilization of telehealth services should be considered due to lower manpower cost and less economic and logistical burden to the patients. (Table Presented)