The Efficacy of Telehealth for the Treatment of Spinal Disorders: Patient-Reported Experiences During the COVID-19 Pande
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RESPONSE TO COVID-19/ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Efficacy of Telehealth for the Treatment of Spinal Disorders: Patient-Reported Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic Karim Shafi, MD & Francis Lovecchio, MD & Katherine Forston, BA & James Wyss, MD & Ellen Casey, MD & Joel Press, MD & Andrew Creighton, DO & Harvinder Sandhu, MD & Sravisht Iyer, MD
Received: 5 June 2020/Accepted: 15 September 2020 * Hospital for Special Surgery 2020
Abstract Background: The use of telehealth saw a rapid surge during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. There remains little data on how effectively telehealth replicates traditional office visits in the treatment of spinal disorders and how telehealth is perceived by patients with spinal disorders. Questions/Purposes: We sought to evaluate patient satisfaction with telehealth visits as a platform for delivering care for the treatment of spinal pathology. Methods: Patients undergoing a telehealth visit with providers specializing in the treatment of spinal disorders (one surgeon and two physiatrists) were provided with an anonymous, online survey. Data on patient satisfaction, effectiveness of the telehealth visit (in comparison with in-person visits), and clarity of communication were collected through 5-point Likert scales; visit characteristics and free-text responses were also collected. Results: Eighty-four patients responded to the survey. Their attitudes were largely positive, with an overall mean patient satisfaction score of 4.79. Patients gave high scores for clarity of communication during the visit, and for satisfaction with the formulation of treatment plans and their ability to ask questions, they gave the lowest scores to the effectiveness of telemedicine in replacing an in-person visit and ease of interface navigation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-020-09808-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. K. Shafi, MD : F. Lovecchio, MD : J. Wyss, MD : E. Casey, MD : J. Press, MD : A. Creighton, DO : H. Sandhu, MD : S. Iyer, MD (*) Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th St, New York, NY 1002, USA e-mail: [email protected] K. Forston, BA Weill Cornell Medicine, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY 10021, USA
Conclusions: The high overall patient satisfaction reported by our patients seeking care for a spinal pathology supports the growing body of evidence promoting the use of telehealth for orthopedic care. Further research is needed in a standardized telehealth examination of patients with spinal disorders. Keywords
telemedicine . telehealth . spine . COVID-19
Introduction The telehealth industry has seen tremendous growth in the past decade, in conjunction with advances in telecommunication and social platforms. Telehealth, or telemedicine, involves the delivery of virtual healthcare via digital communication platforms. Although often thought of in the context of next-generation innovation, applications, and remote patient monitoring, telehealth has demonstrated initial
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