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Breast Medical Oncologists' Perspectives of Telemedicine for Breast Cancer Care: A Survey Study.
Stavrou, Eleni; Qiu, Jeanna; Zafar, Affan; Tramontano, Angela C; Isakoff, Steven; Winer, Eric; Schrag, Deborah; Manz, Christopher.
  • Stavrou E; Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
  • Qiu J; Harvard Medical School.
  • Zafar A; Harvard Medical School.
  • Tramontano AC; Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
  • Isakoff S; Harvard Medical School.
  • Winer E; Brigham and Women's Hospital.
  • Schrag D; Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
  • Manz C; Harvard Medical School.
JCO Oncol Pract ; 18(9): e1447-e1453, 2022 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2140246
ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:

The COVID-19 pandemic forced rapid adoption of telemedicine (TM) for breast oncology visits in the United States, but the appropriate role of postpandemic TM is uncertain. We sought to understand physician and advance practice practitioner perspectives on the use of TM for outpatient breast cancer care through an electronically administered survey.

METHODS:

Breast medical oncology clinicians at two academic cancer centers and five satellite locations affiliated with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts General Cancer Center were invited to respond to a 21-question survey administered in September 2021 about clinicians' perceptions and attitudes toward TM during the previous 12 months.

RESULTS:

Of the 71 survey invitations, 51 clinicians (36 physicians and 15 advance practice practitioners) provided survey responses (response rate = 72%). Ninety-two percent of respondents (n = 47) agreed that TM visits enhance patient care. Ninety-two percent of respondents (n = 46) also agreed that TM is valuable for early-stage breast cancer follow-up visits. Most respondents felt that there was no difference between TM and face-to-face (F2F) visits when it came to patient adherence, ease of ordering tests, ease of accessing patient records, and workflow outside of the visit (82%, 82%, 78%, and 53%, respectively). Fifty-one percent of respondents (n = 26) said that TM was better for timely access to follow-up appointments. Most respondents said that F2F visits were better for seeing physical problems, personal connection with patients, overall quality of visits, and patient-physician communication (100%, 75%, 65%, and 63%, respectively).

CONCLUSION:

Breast clinicians believe that TM is a valuable tool to enhance outpatient breast cancer care. TM was felt to be appropriate for routine follow-up visits and second opinion consultations and is as good as or better than F2F visits for several routine aspects of breast cancer care.
Subject(s)

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Breast Neoplasms / Telemedicine / Oncologists / COVID-19 Type of study: Cohort study / Observational study / Prognostic study / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Female / Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: JCO Oncol Pract Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Breast Neoplasms / Telemedicine / Oncologists / COVID-19 Type of study: Cohort study / Observational study / Prognostic study / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Female / Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: JCO Oncol Pract Year: 2022 Document Type: Article