Effectiveness of Telehealth in Meeting Needs of Benign Foregut Patients

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Telehealth visits became a staple in surgical practice in the setting of COVID-19. The objective of this study is to assess benign foregut patient satisfaction and perceived cost savings with use of telehealth visits. METHODS: This is a single academic center prospective study of benign foregut patients evaluated for routine postoperative care by a telehealth visit over a 1-year period. Patients who agreed to participate completed a survey assessing their experience with telehealth. RESULTS: There were 19 patients (13 phone, 6 virtual) ages 21 to 74 years (male:female 5:14) included. A total of 84% underwent hiatal hernia repair, and others underwent operation for achalasia, feeding access, gastric pacemaker, and choledocholithiasis (average length-of-stay 3.5 days, range 0 to 13). The majority (84.2%) reported a high overall satisfaction score (>4/5, range 3 to 5). Of these patients, 94.7% agreed/strongly agreed that their provider was able to adequately assess their problem, that their concerns were addressed, and that they would participate in future telehealth visits. The average time to drive to a hypothetical in-person appointment was 180 minutes (range 20 to 480 minutes). When comparing telehealth with hypothetical in-person visits, no patients had to take time off work for telehealth vs 15.8% would for in-person visits. A total of 21% would need a family member to take time off for in-person visit; of those, 75% would have suffered wage loss; 36.8% and 42.1% would require overnight accommodation and meal costs for hypothetical in-person visits, respectively (travel time range 180 to 480 minutes). CONCLUSION: Postoperative benign foregut patients were very satisfied with telehealth care with time and cost-saving benefits reported for those traveling long distances for in-person visits.