Early experience with focused telemedicine implementation in an academic colorectal surgery practice

Abstract

BackgroundThe need to continue providing care to patients during the corona virus disease 2019 pandemic facilitated telemedicine’s rapid adoption, including in surgical clinic settings. Our purpose was to evaluate integration of telemedicine into an academic colorectal surgery practice and assess physician experiences providing telemedicine care. MethodsPatients seen in colorectal surgery clinic by telemedicine and in person from March 31, 2020 to August 31, 2020 were evaluated. Demographic and clinical outcomes were assessed for patients. Physician responses to a survey were collected. ResultsTwo hundred and thirty-one telemedicine visits were performed by 4 physicians, comprising 20% of visits during the study period. Patients were 47.6% male and 90.9% Caucasian. In addition, 85.7% were established patients and 21.2% were postoperative visits. Diagnoses evaluated by telemedicine included benign and malignant anorectal and colorectal disease as well as inflammatory bowel disease. All providers reported being able to provide adequate care via telemedicine and were planning to continue providing telemedicine. Patients seen via telemedicine were more likely to be Caucasian and less likely to be African American (P < .001) and more likely to be established patients than those seen in person (P < .001). ConclusionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was most successfully used to facilitate care for established patients, particularly the long-term care of colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. We identified significant differences in ethnicity between patients seen via telemedicine and those seen in person. Telemedicine represents an exciting advancement in patient care, although ongoing study is required regarding providing access to this technology to all colorectal surgery patients, particularly minority populations.