Cancer Patients Give Telemedicine High Marks

WEDNESDAY, May 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients report better patient experience for access and care provider concern for telemedicine versus in-person visits, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Krupal B. Patel, M.D., from the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues surveyed patients with appointments between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, and compared patient experience between telemedicine (5,950 patients) and in-person visits (33,318 patients).

The researchers found that more patients with telemedicine visits gave higher satisfaction ratings for access (62.5 percent for in-person versus 75.8 percent for telemedicine) and care provider concern (84.2 versus 90.7 percent). Telemedicine visits consistently outperformed in-person visits over time regarding access and care provider concern, even when adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, insurance, and clinic type. Over time, there were no significant changes in satisfaction with telemedicine visits for access, care provider concern, telemedicine technology, or overall assessment.

"Many of our institutions were forced to adopt telemedicine visits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This large, retrospective study shows the patient experience was similar to, or better than, in-person visits during the study period," Travis Osterman, D.O., associate vice president for Research Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and a member of the NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) EHR Oncology Advisory Group, who was not involved in this research, said in an NCCN statement. "Going forward, oncology practices need to consider telemedicine as an option for appropriate patients."

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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