Telemedicine in Otorhinolaryngology – A Covid induced opportunity?

Abstract

Introduction The importance of telemedicine became apparent during the height of the pandemic when there was a large discrepancy between the need for patient care and health service provision. In this article we describe a single ENT care provider experience of delivering otolaryngology care using a single app (oDocTM) from November 2020 to September 2021 (11 months) Methods In this cross-sectional retrospective audit details about the consultations were collected using the prescriptions from November 2020 to September 2021. Prescriptions were collected from the ‘oDoc’ application database after removing patient identifiable details for privacy reasons. Data was extracted regarding demographics, clinical features and prescription details. Data was analyzed using Google Sheets and Microsoft excel. Results The total number of patients analyzed was 294. Ear related symptoms were the most common standing at 38% followed by throat related symptoms at 31%. 85% of patients surveyed presented with an acute problem. Those presenting with predominantly neck related symptoms needed biochemical related investigations 50% of the time and also needed radiological investigations 83% of the time. Those who presented with ear and throat related symptoms had the lowest requirement for follow-up standing at 36.73% and 38.46% respectively. Conclusions Consultations are more effective in ear related presentations and are least effective in neck related presentations. Overall physician need for follow-up consultations is less than 50% contributing to a decrease in load to OPD and ETU admissions. Topical ototoxic antibiotic prescription is less in telemedicine. It can be successfully used to treat acute presentations with a high degree of caution.