The Impact of Inpatient Telemedicine on Personal Protective Equipment Savings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Study.

Reem Halabi,Christopher A Longhurst,Lina Lander,Geoffrey Smith,Brian Clay,Marc Sylwestrzak

doi:10.2196/28845

Abstract

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and shortage of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), hospitals implemented inpatient telemedicine measures to ensure operational readiness and a safe working environment for clinicians. The utility and sustainability of inpatient telemedicine initiatives need to be evaluated as the number of COVID-19 inpatients is expected to continue declining. In this viewpoint, we describe the use of a rapidly deployed inpatient telemedicine workflow at a large academic medical center and discuss the potential impact on PPE savings. In early 2020, videoconferencing software was installed on patient bedside iPads at two academic medical center teaching hospitals. An internal website allowed providers to initiate video calls with patients in any patient room with an activated iPad, including both COVID-19 and non–COVID-19 patients. Patients were encouraged to use telemedicine technology to connect with loved ones via native apps or videoconferencing software. We evaluated the use of telemedicine technology on patients’ bedside iPads by monitoring traffic to the internal website. Between May 2020 and March 2021, there were a total of 1240 active users of the Video Visits website (mean 112.7, SD 49.0 connection events per month). Of these, 133 (10.7%) connections were made. Patients initiated 63 (47.4%) video calls with family or friends and sent 37 (27.8%) emails with videoconference connection instructions. Providers initiated a total of 33 (24.8%) video calls with the majority of calls initiated in August (n=22, 67%). There was a low level of adoption of inpatient telemedicine capability by providers and patients. With sufficient availability of PPE, inpatient providers did not find a frequent need to use the bedside telemedicine technology, despite a high census of patients with COVID-19. Compared to providers, patients used videoconferencing capabilities more frequently in September and October 2020. We did not find savings of PPE associated with the use of inpatient telemedicine.

Highlights

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care organizations rapidly implemented telemedicine protocols to protect health care workers and patients [1,2,3]
Some authors referred to the inpatient telemedicine as “electronic protective equipment (PPE)” [4], and a few studies saw a decrease in patient contact, resulting in PPE savings [5,6]
The objective of this viewpoint is to describe the use of a rapidly deployed inpatient telemedicine workflow at a large academic medical center and discuss technology’s potential impact on PPE use

Summary

Introduction

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care organizations rapidly implemented telemedicine protocols to protect health care workers and patients [1,2,3]. Inpatient telemedicine; bedside iPad; video visits; personal protective equipment; COVID-19; virtual visits; pandemic; telehealth; telemedicine; digital health https://www.jmir.org/2021/5/e28845 Some authors referred to the inpatient telemedicine as “electronic PPE” [4], and a few studies saw a decrease in patient contact, resulting in PPE savings [5,6]. The native Zoom app was installed on all the bedside iPads to allow patients to connect with their families using video calls.

Results

Conclusion