A study assessing telemedicine in routine radiation oncology practice found high patient satisfaction with their care, as well as a strong preference for telemedicine among survey responders (J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2021;1-7. doi:10.6004/jnccn.2020.7687).
“The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed cancer care with the rapid expansion of telemedicine, but given the limited use of telemedicine in oncology, concerns have been raised about the quality of care being delivered,” wrote Narek Shaverdian, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, and colleagues.
This study assessed patient satisfaction and quality of care with telemedicine in routine radiation oncology practice, as well as explored opportunities for telemedicine optimization.
Patients seen within a multistate comprehensive cancer center for office visits before the pandemic and telemedicine consultations during the pandemic in December 2019 through June 2020 who completed patient experience questionnaires were included in the study.
Researchers compared patient satisfaction between in-office visits and telemedicine consultations, assessed patient preferences for visit-type, and determined factors associated with a preference for an in-office visit.
A total of 1077 patients who complete an office visit (n = 726) or telemedicine consultation (n = 351) were assessed. The telemedicine survey response rate was 40%.
Overall, no significant difference in satisfaction scored were observed between office visits and telemedicine consultations.
Among telemedicine responders, 45% preferred telemedicine consultations and 34% preferred office visits; 21% had no preference for visit type. Additionally, 90% of respondents reported confidence in their physician, 88% reported understanding of their treatment plan, and 87% reported confidence in their treatment.
Patients with better performance status and who were married/partnered were more likely to prefer in-office visits (odds ratio [OR], 1.04 [95% CI, 1.00-1.08]; P = .047, and 2.41 [95% CI, 1.14-5.47]; P = .009, respectively).
Additionally, researchers noted that patients with telephone-only encounters were more likely to report better treatment plan understanding with an in-office visit (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.00-4.77; P = .04).
“This study is the first to assess telemedicine in routine radiation oncology practice, and found high patient satisfaction and confidence in their care,” Dr Shaverdian and colleagues concluded.
“Optimization of telemedicine in oncology should be a priority, specifically access to audiovisual capabilities that can improve patient-oncologist communication,” they added.—Janelle Bradley
