Abstract
PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic forced many surgeons to adopt “virtual medicine” practices, defined as telehealth services for patient care and online platforms for continuing medical education. The purpose of this study was to assess spine surgeon reliance on virtual medicine during the pandemic and to discuss the future of virtual medicine in spine surgery.MethodsA comprehensive survey addressing demographic data and virtual medicine practices was distributed to spine surgeons worldwide between March 27, 2020, and April 4, 2020.Results902 spine surgeons representing seven global regions responded. 35.6% of surgeons were identified as “high telehealth users,” conducting more than half of clinic visits virtually. Predictors of high telehealth utilization included working in an academic practice (OR = 1.68, p = 0.0015) and practicing in Europe/North America (OR 3.42, p < 0.0001). 80.1% of all surgeons were interested in online education. Dedicating more than 25% of one’s practice to teaching (OR = 1.89, p = 0.037) predicted increased interest in online education. 26.2% of respondents were identified as “virtual medicine surgeons,” defined as surgeons with both high telehealth usage and increased interest in online education. Living in Europe/North America and practicing in an academic practice increased odds of being a virtual medicine surgeon by 2.28 (p = 0.002) and 1.15 (p = 0.0082), respectively. 93.8% of surgeons reported interest in a centralized platform facilitating surgeon-to-surgeon communication.ConclusionCOVID-19 has changed spine surgery by triggering rapid adoption of virtual medicine practices. The demonstrated global interest in virtual medicine suggests that it may become part of the “new normal” for surgeons in the post-pandemic era.
Highlights
IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic became one of the greatest global health crises of our time [1]
Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic became one of the greatest global health crises of our time [1]
With the unprecedented redirection of staff and resources toward management of COVID-19 and seemingly universal order to shelter in place [3], subspecialty services such as orthopedic and neurological spine surgery have had to adapt their service offerings to ensure that their patients continued to receive the necessary care
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic became one of the greatest global health crises of our time [1]. One of the most significant changes has been the rapid adoption and acceleration of “virtual medicine” practices, defined as reliance on telehealth services [4] to facilitate surgeon-to-patient interfacing and use of online educational platforms [5] to support continued physician learning during these times of social distancing [6]. With the rise of COVID-19 and increased pressures to treat patients virtually, government agencies are expanding reimbursements to cover telehealth visits, and health care systems are rapidly developing more sophisticated telehealth capabilities [8]. In addition to implementing telehealth services, spine surgeons have swiftly adopted online education as a primary means of continued surgeon-to-surgeon engagement during a time widespread elective case stoppage, in-person gathering restrictions, and travel constraints [9]. Online education opportunities rapidly expanded to include local topic-based spine webinars—including journal clubs, case discussions, and indication conferences—to larger spine conferences hosted by professional societies such as AO Spine, the North American Spine Society, and the Scoliosis Research Society, among others [5, 10,11,12]
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