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The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond

BACKGROUND: Prior to COVID-19, the use of telemedicine within pediatric surgery was uncommon. To curb the spread of the virus many institutions restricted non-emergent clinic appointments, resulting in an increase in telemedicine use. We examined the value of telemedicine for patients presenting to...

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Autores principales: Metzger, Gregory A., Cooper, Jennifer, Lutz, Carley, Jatana, Kris R., Nishimura, Leah, Deans, Katherine J., Minneci, Peter C., Halaweish, Ihab
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Published by Elsevier Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7894074/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33648729
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.02.018
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author Metzger, Gregory A.
Cooper, Jennifer
Lutz, Carley
Jatana, Kris R.
Nishimura, Leah
Deans, Katherine J.
Minneci, Peter C.
Halaweish, Ihab
author_facet Metzger, Gregory A.
Cooper, Jennifer
Lutz, Carley
Jatana, Kris R.
Nishimura, Leah
Deans, Katherine J.
Minneci, Peter C.
Halaweish, Ihab
author_sort Metzger, Gregory A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Prior to COVID-19, the use of telemedicine within pediatric surgery was uncommon. To curb the spread of the virus many institutions restricted non-emergent clinic appointments, resulting in an increase in telemedicine use. We examined the value of telemedicine for patients presenting to a pediatric surgery clinic before and after COVID-19 METHODS: Perspectives and the potential value of telemedicine were assessed by surveying patients or caregivers of patients being evaluated by a general pediatric surgeon in-person prior to COVID-19 and by patients or caregivers of patients who completed a telemedicine appointment with a pediatric surgical provider during the COVID-19 period. RESULTS: The pre-COVID survey was completed by 57 respondents and the post-COVID survey by 123. Most respondents were white and were caregivers 31–40 years of age. Prior to COVID-19, only 26% were familiar with telemedicine, 25% reported traveling more than 100 miles and >50% traveled more than 40 miles for their appointment. More than 25% estimated additional travel costs of at least $30 and in 43% of households, at least one adult had to miss time from work. Following a telemedicine appointment during the COVID-19 period, 76% reported the care received as excellent, 86% were very satisfied with their care, 87% reported the appointment was less stressful for their child than an in-person appointment, and 57% would choose a telemedicine appointment in the future. CONCLUSION: For families seeking an alternative to the in-person encounter, telemedicine can provide added value over the traditional in-person encounter by reducing the burden of travel without compromising the quality of care. Telemedicine should be viewed as a viable option for pediatric surgery patients and future research directed toward optimizing the experience for patients and providers. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
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spelling pubmed-78940742021-02-22 The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond Metzger, Gregory A. Cooper, Jennifer Lutz, Carley Jatana, Kris R. Nishimura, Leah Deans, Katherine J. Minneci, Peter C. Halaweish, Ihab J Pediatr Surg Article BACKGROUND: Prior to COVID-19, the use of telemedicine within pediatric surgery was uncommon. To curb the spread of the virus many institutions restricted non-emergent clinic appointments, resulting in an increase in telemedicine use. We examined the value of telemedicine for patients presenting to a pediatric surgery clinic before and after COVID-19 METHODS: Perspectives and the potential value of telemedicine were assessed by surveying patients or caregivers of patients being evaluated by a general pediatric surgeon in-person prior to COVID-19 and by patients or caregivers of patients who completed a telemedicine appointment with a pediatric surgical provider during the COVID-19 period. RESULTS: The pre-COVID survey was completed by 57 respondents and the post-COVID survey by 123. Most respondents were white and were caregivers 31–40 years of age. Prior to COVID-19, only 26% were familiar with telemedicine, 25% reported traveling more than 100 miles and >50% traveled more than 40 miles for their appointment. More than 25% estimated additional travel costs of at least $30 and in 43% of households, at least one adult had to miss time from work. Following a telemedicine appointment during the COVID-19 period, 76% reported the care received as excellent, 86% were very satisfied with their care, 87% reported the appointment was less stressful for their child than an in-person appointment, and 57% would choose a telemedicine appointment in the future. CONCLUSION: For families seeking an alternative to the in-person encounter, telemedicine can provide added value over the traditional in-person encounter by reducing the burden of travel without compromising the quality of care. Telemedicine should be viewed as a viable option for pediatric surgery patients and future research directed toward optimizing the experience for patients and providers. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III. Published by Elsevier Inc. 2021-08 2021-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7894074/ /pubmed/33648729 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.02.018 Text en © 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Metzger, Gregory A.
Cooper, Jennifer
Lutz, Carley
Jatana, Kris R.
Nishimura, Leah
Deans, Katherine J.
Minneci, Peter C.
Halaweish, Ihab
The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title_full The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title_fullStr The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title_full_unstemmed The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title_short The value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of COVID-19 and beyond
title_sort value of telemedicine for the pediatric surgery patient in the time of covid-19 and beyond
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7894074/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33648729
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.02.018
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