Evaluation of remote OMFS assessments in the era of pandemic COVID-19 control measures.
Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg
; 58(8): 1023-1028, 2020 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-652067
ABSTRACT
Pandemic COVID-19 has put unprecedented pressure on NHS providers to offer non face-to-face consultation. This study aims to assess acceptability of patients and clinicians towards teleconsultation in oral and maxillofacial surgery compared with an expected face-to-face assessment. 340 telephone clinic patient episodes were surveyed over the initial 7-week period of pandemic-related service restriction. Appointment outcomes from a further 420 telephone consultations were additionally scrutinised. A total of 59.1% of patients expressed a strong preference for teleconsultation with only 13.1% stating a moderate or strong preference for face-to-face assessment. Diagnostic accuracy was highlighted as a concern for both clinicians and patients due to inherent inability to conduct a traditional clinical examination, notable in 43.5% of qualitative comments. Logistical concerns, communications needs and other individual circumstances formed the other emerging themes. The majority of remote consultations (59.5%) were outcomed as requiring further review. A total of 29.3% of patients were discharged. These findings suggest that the increasing use of remote follow-up in carefully selected subgroups can facilitate efficient and acceptable healthcare delivery. Although 'in-person' clinical appointments will continue to be regarded as the default safe and gold standard management modality, OMFS departments should consider significant upscaling of teleconsultation services.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Remote Consultation
/
Pandemics
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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